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 The Philippines has territorial disputes with China over the South
China Sea, which is said to be rich in energy deposits and carries
about $5 billion in ship-borne trade every year. The Spratlys in the
South China Sea are also claimed by Brunei, Malaysia, Taiwan and
Vietnam.
Nearly 5,000 U.S. and Filipino troops will participate in the 11-day
annual exercise, to be held in the Philippines' western island of
Palawan, near the Spratlys, and in the northwest province of
Zambales on the main island of Luzon, just 100 miles (160 km) off
Scarborough Shoal.
The joint air and marine exercises "Philippine Bilateral Exercises,"
or Phiblex, will focus more closely on maritime security and
territorial defense operations as China continues to step up its
presence and activities in the region.
"We're hoping to gain new techniques from the U.S. marine corps,"
Captain Reyson Talingdan, head of the public affairs of the
Philippines' 3rd Marine Brigade in Palawan, told reporters.
"If they have new doctrines, we'll be able to learn from them."
Two U.S. amphibious ships, USS Peleliu and USS Germantown, are
participating in the exercises. Besides simulating boat raids and
beach assaults, they will feature aerial live fire, mechanized armor
maneuvers and parachute drops.
"The field training exercises will provide the Philippines and U.S
marine units multiple opportunities to continue to improve their
skills while sharing best practices and enhancing an already high
level of cohesion," the U.S. embassy said in a statement.
The military reported Beijing continued its reclamation work in four
areas in the Spratlys despite the southwest monsoon.
China has expanded its territory in the Gaven, Johnson South,
Cuarteron and Chigua reefs in the Spratlys, reclaiming land to build
islands to assert its claims.
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The Philippines has monitored the presence of more than 120 Chinese
warships and fishing boats in the Spratlys in the first half of
2014, establishing firm control over disputed areas.
China seized control of Scarborough Shoal, a rocky outcrop north of
the Spratlys, in June 2012 after a three-month standoff with the
Philippines, denying Filipino fishermen access to the rich fishing
ground.
In the Scarborough Shoal, the Philippines has also reported the
presence of an increasing number of ships, from 11 in the last
quarter of 2013 to 34 in the first quarter this year.
The annual drills between Philippine and U.S. forces are being held
under the 1951 Mutual Defence Treaty (MDT), part of a web of
security alliances the United States built in the Asia-Pacific
region during the Cold War.
(Reporting by Manuel Mogato; Editing by Clarence Fernandez)
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