The 2023 Balikatan exercises close with rising tension in the South China Sea in the backdrop.
MANILA, Philippines – No further proof was needed. As a simple ceremony on Friday, April 28, marked the close of, the country’s coast guard revealed it was again bullied by Chinese vessels in the Ayungin Shoal.
“In the past few years, we have seen more threats to the region than we have in the past few decades combined. These include challenges to the rules-based international order via provocations in the South China Sea, as well as global issues like climate change, environmental degradation, and water scarcity,” US Ambassador to the Philippines MaryKay Carlson said.Retired general Carlito Galvez, the officer-in-charge of the Department of Defense, said that this was a Balikatan of many firsts.
He mentioned the last Filipino commander-in-chief to attend the Balikatan was the late president Benigno Aquino III. Aquino’s successor, Rodrigo Duterte, did not attend the Balikatan and had even threatened to cancel the war games.
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