US and allies flex military muscle on China’s doorstep with multi-front drills

When Japan quietly deployed members of its elite airborne brigade for parachute drills in the Philippines’ northernmost province earlier this month, the exercise was not vigorously publicised by officials on either side.The drills on Batan Island, in the Batanes province, formed part of Kamandag – a countrywide mission jointly hosted by Philippine and US marines that ran until Wednesday. Involving some 2,000 troops, the exercise was designed to improve readiness, interoperability and intelligence-sharing.But that quiet Batanes drop may signal a louder trend if considered alongside four other military exercises – most of them American-led – unfolding almost simultaneously across Asia that analysts say reflect a new phase in US deterrence and its “first island chain” defence policy.