The Philippine military opened two weeks of combat drills Monday that would include seizing an island in the disputed South China Sea and likely be frowned upon by China.

More than 3,000 Filipino army, navy and air force personnel will take part in the maneuvers, which Philippine military officials said were not directed against any country.

According to the 2024 training plan, a tactical training exercise was held in the Navy (NAV).

APA reports, citing the Ministry of Defense, that the Navy's warship squadron and marines participated in the training, which was carried out in three stages.

During the training, the skills of commanders and headquarters in organizing combat activities and controlling forces in combat were improved, as well as the readiness of ships to perform combat missions individually and as part of a tactical group were checked.

The main goal of the exercises is to work out the preparation of units for planning and conducting large-scale defense, integration of combat support units and coordination of interaction with NATO allies.

In total, more than 400 military personnel with combat equipment will take part in the exercises.

“There was a file on Biden’s desk that clearly said Ukraine would fail.”

Vance asked. “It’s insane that we would support a military alliance if that military alliance isn’t going to be pro-free speech. I think we can do both. But we’ve got to say American power comes with certain strings attached. One of those is respect free speech, especially in our European allies.”