Thousands of Philippine and U.S. Marines on Monday began military exercises close to flashpoints in the South China Sea, where Beijing is engaged in a bitter territorial with its neighbors. The 12-day amphibious landing exercises — involving about 3,500 U.S. Marines and sailors and 1,200 Filipino counterparts — were officially launched from the western island of Palawan, directly facing the South China Sea. China claims the sea almost in its entirety, and its increasingly assertive efforts to stake its claims have heightened tensions with neighbors including the Philippines, which has conflicting claims to parts of these waters.
Posted on: Thu, 02 Oct 2014 00:32:44 +0000
Trending Topics
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015