US imperialism and its semi-colony, the Philippines, carried out joint military exercises between April 20 and May 8 as inter-imperialist contradictions with Chinese social imperialism intensify.
The 41st Balikatan military exercises took place across the Philippines, including areas facing the South China Sea and the Taiwan Strait, strategic points of contention between the US and China. The drills involved live fire practice, maritime strikes, cyber defense, jungle warfare, and naval maneuvers.
Among the countries who participated are Australia, Japan, Canada, France, and New Zealand, with all but Australia joining for the first time.
Over 17,000 troops were involved, with the US deploying the most at 10,000, and Japan coming in second with 1,400.
Japan’s involvement in the exercises is part of its deepening collusion with US imperialism to economically and militarily encircle China, laid out under former President Biden in 2024 in cooperation with Marcos Jr., the president of the Philippines. Japan has been rapidly militarizing in recent years as part of the intensifying contradictions between imperialist powers, doubling its military budget to become the third-largest military spender and restarting its arms export program.
China initiated its own naval drills in the waters west of the Philippines, describing them as “a necessary action taken in response to the current regional situation.” China’s naval drills included live fire, air-sea coordination, and rapid maneuvering and replenishment.
While there are other annual military exercises between the Philippines and the US, Balikatan is the largest one, and this year’s is the most expansive yet. Balikatan is sandwiched by phase one and two of the annual Salaknib exercise, another annual military drill between the Philippines and the US. The 2023 expansion of the Enhanced Defense Cooperation Agreement (EDCA) saw the establishment of four more US military bases in the Philippines, bringing the known total to nine.
Protests have taken place against the exercises in the US, Japan, and the Philippines. In the Philippines, protesters burned an effigy of Donald Trump while opposing imperialist war and militarization. One protester said at the demonstration, “The government said it has nothing to do with the US attacks on Iran, but the Balikatan will allow the US to test its weapon and missile systems in our island…. The Balikatan reflects the expanding US military intervention, and it does not address the basic needs of our people.”
The Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP), which is waging the world’s longest-running People’s War for 57 years against the old Filipino state, condemned US imperialism for using the Philippines “as a springboard for military aggression around the world.”
Image: US and Philippine Marines carry out a Balikatan military drill in April 2019. Credit: U.S. Indo-Pacific Command.
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