MANILA: The Philippines and United States launched annual military exercises in Manila on Monday but the longtime allies scaled them down in line with President Rodrigo Duterte’s pivot to China and Russia. Duterte has reversed Aquino’s policy of challenging China forcefully on the territorial row, electing to instead pursue closer economic, political and military relations with Beijing. Previous editions of the Balikatan exercises involved large-scale joint operations in or near the South China Sea, which China claims nearly in its entirety. The American co-director of this year’s Balikatan, Lieutenant General Lawrence Nicholson, said the US military hoped the exercises would grow again in future editions. One of the major exercises this year will simulate a response to a major storm hitting the eastern Philippines, then cutting across heavily populated areas of the country including Manila.

Source: Manila Times May 08, 2017 07:18 UTC