Why China’s warning over military blocs is finding listeners in Asia

When the United States and the Philippines opened this year’s Balikatan exercises, the message travelled far beyond the parade ground. More than 17,000 troops are taking part in drills set to run until May 8. What matters is where the drills unfold, who has joined and what kind of regional habit they are helping to normalise.Japan took part in its first Balitakan live-fire exercises. Australia, Canada, France and New Zealand were also active participants. Then the exercises moved closer to sensitive waters. The US and Philippine forces staged counter-landing drills on Palawan in the South China Sea, and later displayed the Navy-Marine Expeditionary Ship Interdiction System (NMESIS), an anti-ship missile system, in Batanes, roughly 100 miles south of Taiwan. For Asia, it is also a reminder that military signalling can harden into routine.Beijing’s response captured the larger argument. Chinese foreign ministry spokesman Guo Jiakun said the region needed peace, not division and confrontation fuelled by outside military build-up. In Western capitals, such language is treated as familiar rhetoric. Across Asia, it lands differently, because the concern behind it is familiar.