As the US blockades Iranian ships from sending oil to China, Canada’s military has sent a large force to join Washington’s effort to threaten that country. As Mark Carney calls US ties a “weakness”, Canada’s armed forces are quadrupling down on their US orientation.
Exercise BALIKATAN began Monday. Beijing views the massive US-led 19-day live-fire exercise across the South China Sea and Taiwan Strait as a threat. “Unilateralism and military bullying have already brought profound disasters to the world,” noted China’s foreign ministry spokesperson in response. Guo Jiakun added, “What the Asia-Pacific region most needs is peace and tranquillity. What it least needs is the introduction of external forces to create division and confrontation.”
This is the first time Canada has participated directly in the annual exercise. According to Canada’s ambassador in Manila, this country has dispatched the third largest deployment to the six-country exercise, which includes 10,000 US troops. According to the Canadian forces release, “Led by the United States and the Philippines, Exercise BALIKATAN will involve a broad range of CAF personnel and capabilities, including contributions from the Royal Canadian Navy, Canadian Army, Royal Canadian Air Force, the CAF Cyber Command, and the Canadian Special Operations Forces Command.”
HMCS Charlottetown is part of the exercise while 500 or more Canadian soldiers have traveled 10,000 kilometres to participate in this event.
As part of militaristic 2022 Indo-Pacific Strategy, Canada has deepened ‘defense’ ties with the Philippines. Six months ago, the two countries signed a Status of Visiting Forces Agreement. A year before that they established a Defence Cooperation Memorandum of Understanding and Canada gave the Philippines access to its Dark Vessel Detection System, which employs satellite technology to track ships in the South China Sea.
These efforts are designed to assist the US in its military buildup. The Bongbong Marcos led Philippines has taken a sharp turn back towards the US and against China. According to China Military Online, “Since the Marcos administration resumed defense cooperation with the US in 2022, the US military has been systematically shaping the Philippines into a forward operational hub. This includes the addition of four new military sites, the deployment of the Typhon mid-range missile system, the construction of large, prepositioned ammunition depots, and the frequent conduct of joint military exercises. Taken together, these developments indicate that the US is seeking to turn the Philippines into a forward stronghold for containing its strategic competitors.”
Hellbound and Down 