New Zealand takes part in Balikatan - Philippines' biggest-ever military exercise

New Zealand is taking part for the first time in the Philippines' biggest-ever military exercise in areas that extend towards disputed parts of the South China Sea.

China warned when Exercise Balikatan began last week that blind alliances were "akin to playing with fire".

Balikatan runs until 8 May with 17,000 troops - 10,000 of them from US, 400 from Australia and about 70 from the NZDF - and featured a lot of other 'firsts'.

Japan was taking an active part for first time, including live-fire drills with its own anti-ship missiles; Canada and France, too.

It was the first time Tokyo had sent combat troops to Philippine soil since World War II.

It was the first time the Philippines and US were to hold maritime strike drills on an island - Itbayat - that Beijing views as its own territory less than 200km south of Taiwan.

Its heavy use of drones and other unmanned systems set it apart from previous Balikatan exercises, defence reporting said.

At the weekend, Beijing issued video of a showcase of its own - live firing new hypersonic anti-ship missiles around the time it had a fleet doing drills in waters east of the main Philippines island of Luzon.

A Chinese embassy spokesperson said on Monday that a country tying its security to others might "backfire".

"What the Asia-Pacific needs most is peace and tranquility, and the last thing the region needs is division and confrontation as a result of the introduction of external forces," the embassy said in a statement to RNZ.

"No military and security cooperation should be conducted at the expense of mutual understanding and trust as well as peace and stability in the region.

"Such cooperation should not target any third party or harm the interests of any third party. For countries that tie their own security to others, it is important to bear in mind that this may very well backfire."

Last week, its foreign ministry said it wished to remind countries concerned that "blindly binding themselves together in the name of security will only be akin to playing with fire and ultimately backfiring upon themselves".

Manila and Beiing have had a series of confrontations in the South China Sea in recent years.

The NZDF said taking part reflected a strategic commitment to strengthening regional partnerships, more interoperability and contributing to regional stability "in support of the international rules-based system in the Indo-Pacific".

"The focus ... is on enhancing interoperability with our close regional partners, including the Philippines and our ally Australia," it told RNZ.

An army light infantry platoon including "movement operators", health specialists, cyber specialists and communications experts had been integrated into an Australian army company for the exercise that runs until 8 May.

New Zealand signed an agreement with the Philippines a year ago for the two militaries to work more closely together, building on previous deals in 2012 and 2024. Canada and France signed similar agreements recently.

Another 17 countries were at Balikatan as observers.

Its live-fire drills included a simulated landing in a province on the South China Sea ​230km from the Scarborough Shoal, a strategic atoll controlled by ​China but hotly contested by the Philippines.

Japan planned to test its Type 88 antiship missiles on a decommissioned vessel near the South China Sea.

American commanders said having 10,000 troops there underscored Washington's commitment to Asia despite the demands of the war against Iran.

In an analysis of the heightened tensions, an opinion piece in the South China Morning Post said this is what a deterrence trap looked like in practice.

"Allied exercises grow larger and more pointed. Japan takes on a more proactive military role. China answers with visible naval movement, tighter monitoring and amplified operational messaging. Each side insists it is acting defensively. Each side reinforces the fears of the other."

It noted Japan had sailed a warship through the Taiwan Strait on 17 April, the date of the 1895 Treaty of Shimonoseki which forced Qing China to cede Taiwan to Japanese colonial rule. China said the move "severely threatens China's sovereignty and security", and it sent naval vessels past Japan's Ryukyu Islands in turn.

For Balikatan, the Philippines got to test what it called its strongest missiles, the BrahMos.

China's foreign ministry had said what the Asia-Pacific region "needed most was peace and tranquility, and what it needed least was the introduction of external forces to sow division and confrontation."

But in response, the Filipino Defence Secretary said there was no trust at all in China because their intentions were sinister and non-transparent.

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