Philippines, US marines conduct exercises near China-held reef
Joint military exercises involving amphibious landing craft between the Armed Forces of the Philippines and US Marines take place near disputed reef occupied by China
Over 6,000 Philippine and US Marines carried out a military exercise on a Philippine beach on Sunday near a disputed reef occupied by Chinese ships that has become a potential regional flashpoint.
The American and Filipino troops, aboard five US amphibious, armoured assault vehicles landed on the deserted beach facing the South China Sea in the latest in a series of combat exercises that began on September 29.
“The US has always been a good ally of the Filipinos and if they need our assistance, we will be here for them.”
With the USS Germantown amphibious dock landing ship overseeing events from the sea, the Filipino and American troops rushed from their vehicles and took up combat positions.
“The US has always been a good ally of the Filipinos and if they need our assistance, we will be here for them and we think this exercise really reinforces that,” said Lieutenant Colonel Robert Rice, an officer with the US training staff.
However he declined to link the exercise to China’s growing assertiveness in the region, saying such talk was “speculation”.
His Filipino counterpart, Lieutenant Colonel Dennis Hernandez said the exercises were intended to boost the capabilities of a marine amphibious brigade, based on the island of Palawan, the closest outpost to the South China Sea.