US, Japan, Philippines hold drills off Taiwan

The United States and the Philippines began Balikatan 2026 on April 20, with Japan joining the annual exercises as a live-fire participant for the first time. (apnews.com) (usnews.com) The drills run through May 8 and involve more than 17,000 troops from the Philippines, the United States and allied countries, making this year’s Balikatan the largest to date, Philippine and U.S. officials said. (usnews.com) (apnews.com) One phase moved to northern Luzon, the Philippine island closest to Taiwan, where Japanese combat troops are scheduled to fire Type 88 surface-to-ship missiles in a maritime strike exercise. (usnews.com) (navalnews.com) Another phase on April 27 put Philippine and U.S. forces on a Palawan beach facing the South China Sea, where they used live fire to repel a mock landing by enemy boats and unmanned craft. (usnews.com) The Taiwan angle comes from geography more than branding. Northern Luzon sits across the Luzon Strait from southern Taiwan, and a U.S. missile deployment there places allied firepower near one of the main sea lanes between the South China Sea and the western Pacific. (news.usni.org) China objected as the drills opened. Foreign Ministry spokesperson Guo Jiakun said April 20 that the region needed “peace and tranquility,” and warned that security groupings could “backfire.” (usnews.com) Beijing’s complaint was tied to Japan as well as the exercise itself. China’s military said it had deployed naval and air forces to monitor the Japanese destroyer JS Ikazuchi after the ship transited the Taiwan Strait on April 17. (usnews.com) Japan’s role is the clearest shift from earlier Balikatan drills. Tokyo is sending about 1,400 troops, Type 88 missiles, the helicopter destroyer JS Ise, the landing ship JS Shimokita and destroyer JS Ikazuchi under the reciprocal access agreement that took effect in 2025. (navalnews.com) The result is not a single drill “off Taiwan’s coast,” but a wider allied exercise across the Philippines that now reaches the islands nearest Taiwan and folds Japan into live-fire operations. China has answered with warnings, monitoring and its own nearby military activity. (usnews.com) (news.usni.org)