US and Philippines flex military muscles in largest-ever joint drills, China issues warning.

The US and the Philippines conducted combat-readiness drills as part of their largest joint military exercises in decades, called Balikatan, which involve about 17,600 military personnel. The drills include live-fire maneuvers, such as a ship-sinking rocket attack and beach assaults to simulate retaking an island near the disputed South China Sea. The exercises have alarmed China, which has warned that the deepening security alliance between the US and the Philippines and their ongoing military drills should not harm its security and territorial interests or interfere in territorial disputes in the South China Sea.