The United States and the Philippines train side by side. Here’s to Ballygathon 2024

08/05/2024

In recent hours, the strategic Bashi Channel, part of the Luzon Strait that separates Taiwan from the northern tip of the Philippines, has been the scene of joint military operations by the armed forces of the United States and the Philippines, particularly through their naval infantry. These specific military maneuvers are part of a larger exercise that began last month, Baligatan 24, a Tagalog word that translates to “shoulder to shoulder,” involving more than sixteen thousand American and Filipino soldiers. More than two hundred and fifty elements from the French and Australian forces are participating in the exercises, as well as visitors from various allied countries such as Japan and European partners. The exercises, which began on April 22 and will end this weekend, are tasked with “enhancing mobility” between the two allies’ military systems.

Although Washington and Manila say that these exercises are not directed at any country and are fundamental to improving the Philippines’ response capacity in emergency situations, the focus is on the territorial security of the locations chosen for the executions, namely the aforementioned Channel Bashi and the South China Sea, suggesting that the two actors’ intentions are to prepare for a possible conflict situation with the People’s Republic of China.

An important message for prevention is how Underlined Advertising Associated Press lentils Senior Security Analyst Della Rand Corporation Derek GrossmanAccordingly the decision of the President of the Philippines Ferdinand Marcos Jr He added that allowing U.S. forces unrestricted access to two Philippine naval air bases in Cagayan province under a mutual defense agreement agreed in 2014 would “enhance the U.S. military’s ability to intervene more timely in Taiwan.” “Right now, a big concern is that the U.S. won’t get there in time.”

The People’s Republic has strongly criticized the exercises, saying the Philippines and countries outside Asia are working together against Beijing. For similar reasons, China had previously specifically opposed the deployment of the missile system Ground based US land in the north of the Philippines with a spokesperson for the Chinese Foreign Ministry Lin Jian He expressed his government’s serious concern about deploying a missile system “at China’s doorstep” even if no launch was planned, and the move was only intended to help train participants familiarize themselves with high-tech weapons in a tropical environment.

Across the China Sea, the outlook is almost the opposite. “We are under pressure,” said the Philippine ambassador to Washington Jose Romualdez “We have no way to fight these atrocities from China (referring to the People’s Republic’s continued provocations against ships and people from Manila. N.T.R) So let’s go somewhere else. We went to the right, that is, to America and to those who believed in what America was doing.”