Named “Balikatan”, the annual Joint military exercises b/w the US and the Philippines are getting under way in the South China Sea, even as Manila remained locked in a stand-off with Beijing over a disputed shoal. The yearly exercise, will continued till April 27, 2012.
What is the strategic element behind this year’s exercise?
The exercise takes place every year but, this year they are different because the context within which they are taking place has changed. This year the Exercise Balikatan is taking place off Palawan, near parts of the South China Sea, which both Philippine and China claim. The games are happening at a time when tensions are already high between China and the Philippines over disputed territorial rights in the South China Sea. So, Mutual Military Exercise by US and Philippines in the disputed region b/w Philippines and China!!! Thus, China’s eyebrows raised…
What is the issue?
6 countries claim competing sovereignty over areas in the South China Sea, which is believed to contain huge deposits of oil and gas. They are China, the Philippines, Brunei, Malaysia, Vietnam and Taiwan. That has led to occasional flare-ups and to competition to occupy islands, reefs and sandbars.
China - Its maritime power is growing. China's claim includes almost the entire South China Sea, well into what the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea recognises as the 200-mile-from-shore Exclusive Economic Zones of other claimants.
Philippines – It along with many other small countries in the region are worried due to growing Chinese maritime Power. Thus, Philippines wants to bolster its own defences and underline its growing ties with US. The Philippines knows it needs help and support from the US, but at the same time, it is acutely aware that its relationship with China is equally important. Philippines must therefore walk a tightrope between these two major world powers.
US - It sees these exercises as an opportunity to demonstrate its renewed interest in Pacific security. It also wants to make sure that the South China Sea, which carries about half the world's total trade, remains free for navigation.
China believes the South China Sea issue is only a regional concern and therefore US should not get involved. But since 2011, the US has been doing the exact opposite - refocusing its military attention on Asia and strengthening ties with the Philippines, negotiating an increase in troop numbers and more frequent joint exercises. So given all this, the presence of thousands of US and Philippine troops holding exercises in Palawan, not far from the Spratly Islands - one of the main disputed areas - is hardly likely to be welcomed in China.
What is the strategic element behind this year’s exercise?
The exercise takes place every year but, this year they are different because the context within which they are taking place has changed. This year the Exercise Balikatan is taking place off Palawan, near parts of the South China Sea, which both Philippine and China claim. The games are happening at a time when tensions are already high between China and the Philippines over disputed territorial rights in the South China Sea. So, Mutual Military Exercise by US and Philippines in the disputed region b/w Philippines and China!!! Thus, China’s eyebrows raised…
What is the issue?
6 countries claim competing sovereignty over areas in the South China Sea, which is believed to contain huge deposits of oil and gas. They are China, the Philippines, Brunei, Malaysia, Vietnam and Taiwan. That has led to occasional flare-ups and to competition to occupy islands, reefs and sandbars.
China - Its maritime power is growing. China's claim includes almost the entire South China Sea, well into what the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea recognises as the 200-mile-from-shore Exclusive Economic Zones of other claimants.
Philippines – It along with many other small countries in the region are worried due to growing Chinese maritime Power. Thus, Philippines wants to bolster its own defences and underline its growing ties with US. The Philippines knows it needs help and support from the US, but at the same time, it is acutely aware that its relationship with China is equally important. Philippines must therefore walk a tightrope between these two major world powers.
US - It sees these exercises as an opportunity to demonstrate its renewed interest in Pacific security. It also wants to make sure that the South China Sea, which carries about half the world's total trade, remains free for navigation.
China believes the South China Sea issue is only a regional concern and therefore US should not get involved. But since 2011, the US has been doing the exact opposite - refocusing its military attention on Asia and strengthening ties with the Philippines, negotiating an increase in troop numbers and more frequent joint exercises. So given all this, the presence of thousands of US and Philippine troops holding exercises in Palawan, not far from the Spratly Islands - one of the main disputed areas - is hardly likely to be welcomed in China.
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