America's show of strength: US and Philippines launch biggest ever joint exercise in South China Sea with 18,000 troops and first ever live fire drills - as Beijing continues to buzz Taiwan with jets and warships

The Philippines and the United States launched their largest-ever joint military exercises on Tuesday, as the longstanding allies seek to counter growing Chinese assertiveness in the region, as Beijing continued to harass Taiwan.  

The exercises will be highlighted by a ship-sinking rocket barrage in waters across the disputed South China Sea and the Taiwan Strait, where Washington has repeatedly warned China over its increasingly aggressive actions.

The annual drills by the longtime treaty allies called Balikatan - Tagalog for 'shoulder-to-shoulder' - will run up to April 28 and involve more than 17,600 military personnel, and will for the first time include a live-fire drill.

It will be the latest display of American firepower in Asia, as the Biden administration strengthens an arc of alliances to better counter China, including in a possible confrontation over Taiwan, an island democracy that Beijing claims as its own.

As the opening ceremony marked the start of the drills, Chinese warships and aircraft were still operating around Taiwan, Taipei's defence ministry said, a day after Beijing declared an end to its massive war games.

-Daily Mail