U.S., Philippines Eye Return to Full Military Drills in 2022
- America wants to ‘increase complexity and scope’ of exercises
- Philippines sees ‘like-minded’ countries rejoining drills
Philippine marines take position as part of the annual Philippines and US joint military exercise at the beach of Philippine navy's training camp in San Antonio, Zambales province in Philippines in 2019.
Photographer: Ted Aljibe/AFP/Getty Images
The U.S. and the Philippines are planning to return to full-scale military drills in 2022 after two years and will invite Australia and the U.K. as observers, in another sign of the Biden administration’s push to deepen ties in the Indo-Pacific and counter China’s assertiveness.
America wants “to increase the complexity and scope” of its military exercises with the Philippines, and plans to invite new partners to join the drills, Admiral John Aquilino, the U.S. Indo-Pacific Command chief, said at a briefing in Manila.