Philippines, US troops begin annual combat drills

American and Filipino soldiers simulate a raid during the joint US-Philippine military exercise Balikatan at the Naval Training Exercise Command in San Antonio, Zambales province, in this file photo from 2018. - PDI

MANILA: Nearly 17,000 Filipino and American troops begin a three-week joint combat training exercise in the Philippines on Monday (April 22) involving maritime drills in the South China Sea where Manila and Beijing have sparred over maritime borders.

France and Australia, which have ramped up defence ties with Manila in the face of China's aggressive behaviour in the South China Sea, will join the maritime exercises to be conducted for the first time outside Philippine territorial waters.