21/04/2026

TUESDAY | APR 21, 2026

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Philippines war games begin

Drills risk regional trust, says China

o Japanese troops taking part for first time

MANILA: Thousands of American and Philippine troops, joined for the first time by a significant contingent of Japanese forces, began annual military exercises yesterday set against the backdrop of the Middle East war. The war games will feature live-fire exercises in the north of the country facing the Taiwan Strait, as well as a province off the disputed South China Sea, where the Philippines and China have engaged in repeated confrontations. The Japanese military, which is contributing 1,400 personnel, will use a Type 88 cruise missile to sink a target ship off northern Paoay, Philippine exercise spokesman Colonel Dennis Hernandez said. More than 17,000 soldiers, airmen and sailors are taking part in the 19-day Balikatan, or Shoulder to Shoulder, exercises, about the same number as last year’s edition, including contingents from Australia, New Zealand, France and Canada. “Balikatan represents an opportunity to showcase our ironclad alliance with the Philippines and demonstrate our commitment to a free and open Indo-Pacific,” US spokesman Colonel Robert Bunn said. Bunn said US troop levels he described as “one of the largest deployments” in years would be unaffected by the Middle East war, while declining to provide specific numbers. Balikatan comes as Beijing ramps up military pressure around Taiwan, which it considers part of its territory and has threatened to use force to seize. President Ferdinand Marcos said last November that given his country’s proximity to the self-ruled island and its surrounding waters, “a war over Taiwan will drag the Philippines, kicking and screaming, into the conflict”. In February, US, Japanese and Philippine aircraft patrolled over the Bashi Channel separating the Philippines from Taiwan to test what Manila called their “ability to operate seamlessly together in complex maritime environments”. Marcos considers Manila’s 1951 mutual defence pact with Washington a bedrock of national security and has been building up security ties with Western nations to deter China. Over the past two years, Manila has signed

BEIJING: China yesterday warned against military cooperation that could undermine trust and deepen division in the region, as the United States and the Philippines held annual military exercises. “What the Asia-Pacific region most needs is peace and tranquillity, and what it least needs is the introduction of external forces to create division and confrontation,” said Guo Jiakun, a Foreign Ministry spokesperson, at a regular press briefing when asked about the drills. Military cooperation between nations should not undermine mutual understanding and trust among regional countries, disrupt regional peace and stability, be directed against third parties or harm their interests, Guo said. “We would like to remind the relevant countries that persisting in tying themselves together on security will only lead to setting themselves on fire and backfiring,” he said. China’s military said last Friday it deployed naval and air forces to monitor the Japanese destroyer JS Ikazuchi that transited the Taiwan Strait. The warship is taking part in Balikatan. Asked about Ikazuchi’s presence in the strait and Japan’s involvement in the military drills, Guo said Tokyo should exercise caution, rather than “flaunting its military might everywhere and undermining regional stability”. In Jakarta, Indonesian Navy spokesperson First Admiral Tunggul said yesterday a US warship passed through the Strait of Malacca on Saturday. He said the transit through the major sea route was in accordance with international law. Navy Commander Matthew Comer, a spokesperson at the US military’s Indo-Pacific Command, identified the warship as the Japan-based USS Miguel Keith , which has been at sea “conducting routine operations in US 7th Fleet”. Comer did not provide details about the destination of the warship, citing US Navy policy not to discuss future operations or movements for security reasons, but said it had undergone maintenance in South Korea. The US Navy describes the USS Miguel Keith as a 240m long vessel designed to be a floating command base that can launch helicopters and small boats, provide living quarters for troops, and command-and-control facilities. – Reuters an operation on April 14 in Puncak region after receiving reports from civilians about the presence of rebels in their village, taskforce spokesperson Wirya Arthadiguna told Reuters. Four rebels were killed during the operation in Kembru village, and there was a report of a child dying from a gunshot during an unrelated incident in a nearby village, Wirya said. “No military personnel were present at that village at the time of the shooting of the child, and the two incidents took place at different locations and times and are not connected,” he said. – Reuters

Protesters holding up signs against Balikatan outside Camp Aguinaldo in Manila yesterday. – AFPPIC

Marine Expeditionary Force Commanding General and US Marine Corps Lieutenant General Christian Wortman attaches the Balikatan patch on the sleeve of Philippine Exercise

Director Francisco Lorenzo at Camp Aguinaldo. – REUTERSPIC

visiting forces or equivalent agreements with Japan, New Zealand, Canada and France, deals aimed at facilitating their participation in joint military exercises in the Philippines. Bunn said American forces would have the option of firing Tomahawk and NMESIS anti ship missiles. Integrated air and missile defence systems will also be put to the test, including technology

for countering drones, Philippine spokesman Hernandez said. Week-long naval exercises will also take place in waters off Luzon. Japan is deploying a tank landing ship, a destroyer and a helicopter destroyer, while the US will use a cutter and a dock landing ship. They will join two Philippine frigates and another from Canada. – AFP

Major earthquake shakes Tokyo TOKYO: A 7.4-magnitude earthquake struck northern Japan yesterday, shaking large buildings in Tokyo hundreds of kilometres away and prompting a warning for tsunami waves. The quake hit at 4.53pm (3.53pm in Malaysia) in Pacific waters off northern Iwate prefecture, Japan’s Meteorological Agency (JMA) said.

“Evacuate from coastal regions and riverside areas to a safer place,” it said. “Tsunami waves are expected to hit repeatedly. Do not leave safe ground until the warning is lifted.” A JMA official warned that more quakes could strike the area within the next week, particularly within the next two to three days, potentially “causing even stronger shaking”. The prime minister’s office said it had set up a crisis management team.

Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi said the government was trying to confirm whether there were any casualties or property damage. Japan, home to around 125 million people, typically experiences about 1,500 jolts yearly and accounts for about 18% of the world’s earthquakes. The vast majority are mild, although the damage they cause varies according to their location and the depth below the Earth’s surface at which they strike. – AFP military to reevaluate operations against Papuan rebels, she said. Resource-rich Papua, home to the world’s second-largest gold and copper mine, has seen a simmering separatist movement since it was brought under Indonesian control in a 1969 vote overseen by the United Nations. The military spokesperson for Papua told Reuters he had not received any information regarding civilian fatalities in Papua last week. The Papuan rebel group said 12 civilians had been killed by military operations. The military’s Habema taskforce carried out

Around 40 minutes later, an 80cm tsunami wave hit a port in Kuji in Iwate, according to the JMA, which initially estimated the quake’s strength at 7.4 but later revised it upwards.

Indonesia military criticised over Papua civilian deaths JAKARTA: Indonesia’s National Human Rights Commission strongly criticised the military yesterday as it investigated the killing of 12 civilians last week during an operation against rebels in Papua province. deaths. It was not immediately clear whether the civilians were killed by Indonesian or rebel fire, or both. “We condemn the enforcement operation against Papuan rebels that resulted in civilian casualties,” commission chief Anis Hidayah said in a statement.

The military said it had no information about the deaths, but the state-run rights commission said over the weekend that 12 people including women and children had been shot dead during an operation against separatists in central Papua on April 14. Dozens of others sustained serious injuries. The commission said it was investigating the

“All forms of attacks against civilians, whether in situations of war or otherwise, carried out by state or non-state actors, constitute violations of human rights and International Humanitarian Law,” she said. The commission also urged Indonesia’s