• Philippine exercise director Major General Marvin Licudin (L) and US exercise director Major General Eric Austin during the opening ceremony of the 'Balikatan' joint military exercise in Manila in Apirl, 2023 (AFP)

The Philippines will host this year's joint naval exercise with the United States from October 2-13 as part of mutual efforts to boost military collaboration in the East Asian region, the Philippines Armed Forces said in a statement on Wednesday.

"The Philippine Navy is set to host this year's iteration of the PH-US Exercise SAMASAMA that is scheduled from 02 to 13 October 2023 at the Naval Forces Southern Luzon (NFSL) Area of Operations. SAMASAMA is a bilateral exercise between the United States Navy (USN) and the Philippine Navy (PN) that aims to further strengthen international defense cooperation and advance a rules-based international order," the army said.

According to the statement, the exercise activities were designed to further enhance the PN’s naval warfare capabilities as the country’s offshore combat force for maritime security operations. They will cover the fundamentals of anti-submarine warfare, anti-surface warfare, anti-air warfare, and electronic warfare.

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Furthermore, the drills aim to improve maritime integration and combined interoperability with the Japan Maritime Self Defense Force, Royal Australian Navy, Royal Canadian Navy, and the United Kingdom Royal Navy.

Meanwhile, the French and Australian navies will send personnel to join the subject-matter expert exchanges SMEEs, while the maritime forces of New Zealand and Indonesia will take part in the exercises as observers. 

Close to the US

The drills will be held in the South China Sea as Washington continues to incite regional tensions with Beijing and form official and non-official military blocs in the heated region.

In April, Manila announced that it would grant the US four more military bases on its soil, which raised the total number of American bases in the country to nine. Two of the military sites are close to Taiwan and one is near the South China Sea. China's neighbor said this move comes as part of its efforts to offset alleged Chinese "increasing assertiveness toward Taiwan" and its construction of bases in the South China Sea.

During the same month, the US and the Philippines conducted the largest-ever joint exercises. The drills saw a live-shooting event in the ocean for the first time in the history of their relations.

Chinese Foreign Ministry criticized the military drills then, stressing that they must not interfere in South China Sea disputes, still less harm China's territorial sovereignty, maritime rights and interests, and security interests.

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Renewed tensions

A 300-meter floating barrier placed by China earlier across the entrance of the disputed Scarborough Shoal reef chain was removed by the Philippines in a covert naval operation, which was ordered by the country's President, Ferdinand Marcos.

Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Wang Wenbin criticized the Philippines' actions, saying Beijing "firmly upholds the sovereignty and maritime rights and interests of the Huangyan island," referring to the disputed Scarborough Shoal reef chain.

"We advise the Philippines not to provoke or stir up trouble," the official added.

In a report discussing the incident, the Global Times said the renewed frictions between the two countries are "obviously driven by US instigation." 

The Chinese newspaper pointed out that the US is seeking a larger military presence in the South China Sea, indicating that it is pushing the Philippines to spur up feuds with China, providing a pretext for US military expansion in the region.