Role of Philippines in US Imperial ‘Pivot’ in Asia May Expand
Washington has been building up the Filipino military, like others in the region, to contain a non-threatening China. - Recent joint U.S.-Filipino military exercises are a direct military provocation to China even as Washington rhetorically refuses to take sides in rising tensions in Asia-Pacific. The Philippines is using the U.S. to ward off China’s regional influence and stand up to Chinese territorial claims in the South China Sea. The exercises included mock beach invasions along coastlines facing China. The U.S. has been building up the Philippines’s military and security forces, offering funding and weapons in exchange for greater American presence in the country.
Peter Symonds: US-Philippine military exercises directed against China