The Philippines and Australia kick off major military drills near South China Sea in a big way

In this photo provided by the Armed Forces of the Philippines, Maj. Gen. Francisco F Lorenzo Jr., left, commander of the AFP Education, Training and Doctrine Command, pins the ALON Exercise 2025 patch on Deputy Chief of Joint Operations Maj. Gen. Hugh McAslan during the opening ceremony of joint military drills between Australia and the Philippines in Palawan province, Philippines on Friday, Aug. 15, 2025. -- Armed Forces of the Philippines via AP

MANILA (Bloomberg): The Philippines and Australia have started their largest ever joint military exercises as tensions continue in the South China Sea.

The joint exercises, which includes drills in Palawan province facing the South China Sea, will run from Aug. 15 to 29, the Philippine military said on Friday night.

It will involve 3,600 military personnel from the Philippines and Australia, with additional participation from the Royal Canadian Navy and the United States Marine Corps, it added.

"This marks the beginning of the most extensive and complex iteration of the bilateral defense exercise since its inception in 2023,” the military said.

Manila has increasingly turned to like-minded nations to counter Beijing’s aggression and claims of sovereignty in large swathes of the South China Sea.

China’s territorial claims to the strategic waterway overlap with those of neighboring nations, and was invalidated by a landmark ruling by the Permanent Court of Arbitration in The Hague.

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