US, Philippines hold war games as China flexes muscles

Philippine soldiers and a US soldier (C) take positions after disembarking from a C-47 Chinook helicopter during an air assault exercise inside the military training camp of Fort Magsaysay, north of Manila, in 2015

Manila (AFP) - Thousands of US and Filipino soldiers will on Monday launch annual war games that this year are being seen as a show of strength in the face of China's increasing assertiveness in the region.

The 11-day Balikatan (shoulder-to-shoulder) exercises are expected to show how the Philippines, though severely outgunned, can counter China with the help of the United States, its longest-standing ally.