The U.S. and Philippine militaries will hold their largest ever joint exercises over the coming weeks, a move coming on the heels of China's ramped up aggression toward Taiwan.
'Special Report' panelists Brit Hume, Trey Gowdy and Mara Liasson discuss China holding military drills near Taiwan in response to House Speaker Kevin McCarthy meeting with the president of Taiwan.
Known as the Balikatan Exercise, the drills will last for 17 days, ending April 28. In total, 17,600 troops from both the U.S. and the Philippines will participate in the exercises, some of which will involve live ammunition.Last year's version of the same drill involved half as many troops.said of the event when it was first announced.
While the drills were planned long in advance, the timing of the Balikatan Exercise sends a message nevertheless, beginning just one day after China ended its own exercises around Taiwan. "We're very comfortable and confident that we have in place, in the region, sufficient resources and capabilities to protect our national security interests in the Indo-Pacific," Kirby told reporters Monday."I would add… there's no reason for tensions across the Taiwan Strait to devolve into any kind of conflict."
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