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U.S. Keeps Eye on China with Balikatan Expansion Proposal
March 19, 2002
Summary
The United States has proposed expanding bilateral military exercises with the Philippines to include Japanese and South Korean aircraft, according to Japan's Kyodo news agency
Analysis
Washington reportedly has asked for four South Korean C-130s and two Japanese C-130s to take part in April's Balikatan, or shoulder-to-shoulder, defense exercises on the Philippine island of Luzon. Washington also wants to involve observers from 10 countries and to integrate the exercise into the broader, multinational "Team Challenge," which links several regional bilateral and multilateral exercises.
The involvement of observers and the inclusion of foreign forces in Balikatan would mark a significant step for the Philippines, which has shown reservations in the past to Team Challenge and to the deployment of foreign forces on its soil. Beyond Manila, however, Washington's proposal demonstrates that, despite the war against terrorism, the U.S. military has not lost sight of longer-term potential challenges to U.S. security -- in this case, China.
Team Challenge 2002 links Balikatan with the Cobra Gold exercise in Thailand, which involves U.S., Thai and Singaporean forces. Thirteen nations -- including China, Russia, France and India -- will observe Cobra Gold. The purpose of Team Challenge is to "address bilateral and multilateral training objectives, and to improve the readiness of regional armed forces to contribute to multilateral operations," Adm. Dennis Blair, commander-in-chief of the U.S. Pacific Command, recently told the U.S. Senate Armed Services Committee.
Washington also wants a 10-nation Multinational Planning Augmentation Team to observe Balikatan and participate in a Combined Task Force Seminar and Command Post Exercises. The invitees, according to Kyodo, are Australia, Brunei, India, Indonesia, Japan, South Korea, Malaysia, Mongolia, Singapore and Thailand.
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Dan
U.S. Keeps Eye on China with Balikatan Expansion Proposal . . .