US and Filipino troops yesterday fired missiles and artillery at an imaginary “invasion” force during war games on the Philippines’ northern coast, days after their governments objected to China’s “dangerous” actions in regional waters.
Thousands of troops are conducting land, sea and air maneuvers against a backdrop of increased confrontations between Chinese and Philippine vessels around shoals in the South China Sea claimed by Manila, as well as stepped-up Chinese air and naval activity around nearby Taiwan.
US troops massed at a strip of sand dunes on Luzon island’s northwest coast — about 400km south of Taiwan — letting loose more than 50 live 155mm howitzer rounds at floating targets about 5km off the coast, journalists reported.
Photo: Reuters
Filipino troops followed up by firing rockets aimed at wearing down the attackers, before the two forces finished the job with machine guns, Javelin missiles and more artillery rounds.
Lieutenant General Michael Cederholm, commander of the US First Marine Expeditionary Force, said the exercise was “to prepare for the worst” by “securing key maritime terrain.”
“It’s designed to repel an invasion,” Cederholm told reporters at the exercise site.
“Our northwestern side is more exposed,” Major General Marvin Licudine, exercise director for the Philippines, said ahead of the live firing at the La Paz sand dunes near Laoag.
“Because of the regional problems that we have... we have to already practice and orient ourselves in our own land in these parts,” he said.
Beijing claims almost the entire South China Sea despite an international ruling that its assertion has no legal basis.
It deploys hundreds of coast guard, navy and other vessels to patrol and militarize the waters.
Asked about yesterday’s drills, the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs said that “any military exercise should not be targeted at or harm the interests of third parties.”
“Countries in the region can all see clearly who is currently provoking military confrontation and escalating tensions in the region,” ministry spokesman Lin Jian (林劍) said.
More than 16,700 Filipino and US troops are taking part in the annual military drills dubbed Balikatan, or “shoulder to shoulder” in Filipino.
The International Industrial Talents Education Special (INTENSE) Program to attract foreigners to study and work in Taiwan will provide scholarships and a living allowance of up to NT$440,000 per person for two years beginning in August, Minister of Education Pan Wen-chung (潘文忠) told a meeting of the legislature’s Education and Culture Committee yesterday. Pan was giving an update on the program’s implementation, a review of universities’ efforts to recruit international students and promotion of the Taiwan Huayu Bilingual Exchanges of Selected Talent (BEST) program. Each INTENSE Program student would be awarded a scholarship of up to NT$100,000 per year for up to
Singapore yesterday swore in Lawrence Wong (黃循財) as the city-state’s new prime minister in a ceremony broadcast live on television after Lee Hsien Loong (李顯龍) stepped down following two decades in office. Wong, formerly deputy prime minister, was inaugurated at the Istana government office shortly after 8pm to become the second person outside the Lee family to lead the nation. “I ... do solemnly swear that I will at all times faithfully discharge my duties as prime minister according to law, and to the best of my knowledge and ability, without fear or favor, affection or ill-will. So help me God,” the
MUSICAL INTERLUDE: During the altercations, KMT Legislator Hsu Chiao-hsin at one point pulled out a flute and started to play the national anthem A massive brawl erupted between governing and opposition lawmakers in the main chamber of the legislature in Taipei yesterday over legislative reforms. President-elect William Lai (賴清德) is to be inaugurated on Monday, but his Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) lost its majority in the legislature and the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) has been working with the Taiwan People’s Party (TPP) to promote their mutual ideas. The opposition parties said the legislative reforms would enable better oversight of the Executive Yuan, including a proposal to criminalize officials who are deemed to make false statements in the legislature. “The DPP does not want this to be
BASIC OPERATIONS: About half a dozen navy ships from both countries took part in the days-long exercise based on the Code for Unplanned Encounters at Sea An unpublicized joint military exercise between Taiwan and the US in the Pacific Ocean last month was carried out in accordance with an international code, the Ministry of National Defense (MND) said yesterday. According to a Reuters report citing four unnamed sources, the two nations’ navies last month conducted joint drills in the Western Pacific. The drills were not made public at the time, but “about half-a-dozen navy ships from both sides, including frigates and supply and support vessels, participated in the days-long exercises,” Reuters reported, citing the sources. The drills were designed to practice “basic” operations such as communications, refueling and resupplies,