Nearly 17,000 Filipino and American troops will 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 defense ties with the Philippines in the face of China’s aggressive behavior in the South China Sea, will join the maritime exercises to be conducted for the first time outside Philippine territorial waters. The annual Balikatan or /”shoulder-to-shoulder/” drills, which will run from April 22 to May 10, come amid an escalating diplomatic row and maritime encounters between the Philippines and China including the use of water cannon and heated verbal exchanges.

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