00:01Things are getting hot in the South China Sea.
00:03In the past week alone, the Philippine Coast Guard has accused China of poisoning local fish and of firing flares
00:08at its planes,
00:09while Reuters says China is building barriers to block access to the Scarborough Shoal.
00:14Several countries have overlapping claims in the sea, including Taiwan, and incidents in the area are common.
00:19Beijing has militarized several islands to strengthen its own claims.
00:23This recent spike in tensions comes just before the Philippines, the U.S., and other countries hold joint military drills.
00:28Those start Monday and run until early May. Exercises will be held across the Philippines with more of a focus
00:34on regional security.
00:36It has moved from a focus on counterterrorism to now territorial integrity, i.e., South China Sea, Taiwan contingency.
00:46And I would say that they're very big in the sense of the multilateral aspect of it,
00:51but also some of the capabilities that they've tested out in the last few years, right?
00:55So they've done more related to long-range firing capability,
00:59wanting to maintain denial for things like the Bashi Channel or parts of the South China Sea slash West Philippine
01:07Sea.
01:08Since it's not a participant, why should Taiwan care about these drills?
01:12Experts say what happens to the south of the country has major implications for its security.
01:16In other words, Taiwan has strong軍 � segues.
01:21Taiwan should do not participation in the mountains of China,
01:24Taiwan is the Blue Coast.
01:26beautiful magusa flyance
01:30Taiwan ships in North MARCux justify
01:35Taiwan water has already stayed Uno and one other countries.
01:35Taiwan would rather have foreign distuition.
01:40Taiwan is generally won't border volunteers.
01:42Taiwan won't have a soft means in change.
01:47Taiwan is not the only country keeping a closer eye on the region.
01:50Australia, France, Canada and others are also joining the drills.
01:53And for the first time, Japan is joining Belikatan as a full participant with combat troops,
01:58upping its involvement from just observing.
02:00With so many countries involved, Taiwan and China will both be watching the drills closely.
02:04Chris Ma and Larry Siano for Taiwan Plus.
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