The United States and the Philippines are set to begin their annual ‘Balikatan’ – or “shoulder-to-shoulder” - military exercises. These are the most expansive military drills yet, and come amid a rise in tensions between China and the Philippines.

This year’s drills will include the first-ever military exercises held outside of Philippine territorial waters, in the South China Sea. Those are waters are partly claimed by Beijing. The US and the Philippines have a longstanding mutual defense treaty and at a recent summit in Washington, US President Joe Biden said his country’s commitments to Manila were “ironclad”.

For more on this, we talk to author, columnist and political scientist Richard Heydarian.

And we talk to our East Asia correspondent James Chater, who joins us from Taipei.

#philippines #usa #southchinasea

00:00 Intro and report
03:39 Interview with Richard Heydarian
07:08 Talk with DW Correspondent James Chater

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