Philippines, U.S. Hold Joint Military Drills on Beach Facing Taiwan

TaiwanPlus News

The Philippines military and its U.S. counterparts have been practicing countering an enemy landing on the northern coast facing Taiwan and China, part of annual joint war games known as Balikatan.

Transcript

00:00Here on the Philippines' north coast, facing the Luzon Strait and Taiwan,

00:05the US and Philippine military are conducting live-fire counter-landing drills.

00:15Using tanks, planes, infantry and artillery, they're practicing how to counter an attack

00:20from the enemy. It's one of the largest operations of Balikatan 2025.

00:24The enemy that we are fighting against here is an amphibious force coming from surface ships,

00:33deploying an amphibious force whose intent is to establish a foothold on the beaches

00:40with an intent to move inland once that mission has been accomplished. So a counter-landing is

00:47intended to stop them. This Cagayan coast is just a few hundred kilometers from Taiwan across the

00:53Luzon Strait. It's now seen as a front line in what military planners call the Taiwan Contingency,

00:59the scenario where rising tensions between China and Taiwan erupt into war.

01:05In the face of that risk, Manila is strengthening defense ties with Washington,

01:09giving greater access to US troops to areas like this, and positioning sophisticated weapon systems

01:14like anti-ship missiles closer to China. It all sends a strong signal that as tensions mount in

01:20the region, the Philippines is taking its deterrent seriously. Fu Hua Hong, David Santos and Rick

01:26Glowatt in Cagayan, the Philippines for Taiwan Plus.

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