MANILA: Thousands of US and Philippine marines launched 10 days of joint workout routines within the northern and western Philippines on Tuesday (Oct 15), a day after China held huge drills round Taiwan.
The annual Kamandag, or Venom, workout routines deal with defending the northern coast of the Philippines’ major island, Luzon, which is about 800 km from self-ruled Taiwan.
Beijing considers Taiwan a part of its territory and has vowed it should by no means rule out utilizing power to overcome it, calling Monday’s drills a “extreme warning” to the island’s “separatist” forces.
The joint US-Philippine workout routines come amid a collection of escalating clashes between China and the Philippines over coral reefs and the waters of the South China Sea, which Beijing claims nearly in its entirety.
Philippine Marine Corps commander Major General Arturo Rojas confused at Tuesday’s opening ceremony in Manila that Kamandag had been deliberate for a while and had “nothing to do with what is occurring within the area.”
The major focus of the workout routines might be live-fire drills alongside the northern coast of Luzon, whereas different actions might be performed on the small Philippine islands between Luzon and Taiwan.
“It’s a coastal protection doctrine. The doctrine says a possible aggressor could possibly be headed in the direction of our territory,” Philippine train director Brigadier General Vicente Blanco informed reporters.
“We should not training to affix the battle (over Taiwan),” he added.
Colonel Stuart Glenn, representing the US Marines, mentioned the workout routines aimed to assist the US and its allies reply to “any disaster or contingency”.
The western Philippine island of Palawan, dealing with the disputed South China Sea, can even host a part of the drills.
