MANILA, Philippines (AP) — The United States and the Philippines kicked off one of their largest combat exercises Monday in an annual display of allied military might aimed at deterring aggression in Asia, despite Washington’s preoccupation with the war in the Middle East.

The large-scale combat drills between the U.S. and Philippines will expand this year to include other militaries, including from Japan, France and Canada, which have signed visiting forces agreements with Manila, the Philippine military said.

More than 17,000 American and Filipino military personnel will participate in the Balikatan — Tagalog for shoulder-to-shoulder — exercise. The event will last nearly three weeks and will include mock battle scenarios and live-fire maneuvers in locations including Philippine provinces facing the disputed South China Sea and the Taiwan Strait.

Nearly 10,000 U.S. military personnel will take part in the combat drills, a major deployment that U.S. military officials said underscores Washington’s commitment to Asia despite its preoccupation with the war against Iran.

“Regardless of the challenges elsewhere in the world, the United States focus on the Indo-Pacific and our ironclad commitment to the Philippines remains unwavering,” Marine Lt. Gen. Christian Wortman said in the opening ceremony.

Armed Forces of the Philippines chief of staff Gen. Romeo Brawner said the multinational combat drills build deterrence and resilience against aggression in the region. He did not mention any country in his speech but in the past, he has strongly criticized China for its increasingly assertive actions against Philippine navy and coast guard forces in the South China Sea, which Beijing claims virtually in its entirety.

The Philippines, Vietnam, Malaysia, Brunei and Taiwan also lay claims to the waters, a key global trade route, but territorial confrontations have particularly spiked between Chinese and Filipino forces in recent years.

China has objected to the U.S.-Philippine drills, saying they are aimed at containing its global rise. The Philippine military, however, has insisted the exercise does not target any country and is also needed to prepare allied forces to respond to natural disasters.

The U.S. has repeatedly warned China that it is obligated to defend the Philippines, its oldest treaty ally in Asia, if Filipino forces come under an armed attack in disputed waters.

“We remain guided by a shared commitment to uphold international law, to respect sovereignty and to contribute to a free and open Indo-Pacific where nations can thrive without coercion,” Brawner said.

During the drills, Japanese forces will fire missiles from a coastal area in the northwestern Philippine province of Ilocos Norte to help sink a mock enemy ship about 40 kilometers (25 miles) away in the peripheries of the South China Sea, Philippine marine. Col. Dennis Hernandez told The Associated Press.

U.S. forces will use a marine drone laden with explosives to further bombard the enemy ship, Hernandez said.

Last year, U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth assured Philippine officials while visiting Manila that the Trump administration would work with allies to ramp up deterrence against threats across the world, including China’s aggression in the South China Sea.

“Friends need to stand shoulder to shoulder to deter conflict, to ensure that there is free navigation whether you call it the South China Sea or the West Philippine Sea,” Hegseth told Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr.

AP writers Joeal Calupitan and Aaron Favila in Manila, Philippines, contributed to this report.

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