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Philippines, US Repel Mock Foreign Invaders in Annual Military Exercises

US soldiers fire 155mm and 105mm Howitzers during a live fire exercise in the annual joint military exercises between US and Philippine troops called "Balikatan" or shoulder-to-shoulder, at Laoag, Ilocos Norte, Philippines, May 6, 2024. REUTERS/Eloisa Lopez
US soldiers fire 155mm and 105mm Howitzers during a live fire exercise in the annual joint military exercises between US and Philippine troops called "Balikatan" or shoulder-to-shoulder, at Laoag, Ilocos Norte, Philippines, May 6, 2024. REUTERS/Eloisa Lopez
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Philippines, US Repel Mock Foreign Invaders in Annual Military Exercises

US soldiers fire 155mm and 105mm Howitzers during a live fire exercise in the annual joint military exercises between US and Philippine troops called "Balikatan" or shoulder-to-shoulder, at Laoag, Ilocos Norte, Philippines, May 6, 2024. REUTERS/Eloisa Lopez
US soldiers fire 155mm and 105mm Howitzers during a live fire exercise in the annual joint military exercises between US and Philippine troops called "Balikatan" or shoulder-to-shoulder, at Laoag, Ilocos Norte, Philippines, May 6, 2024. REUTERS/Eloisa Lopez

US and Philippine armed forces fired missiles and artillery to thwart a simulated invasion in the Philippines' northern waters facing Taiwan on Monday, in a show of military force and strengthening ties as regional tensions rise.
About 200 soldiers took turns defending the shores of the coastal city of Laoag in Ilocos province, launching Javelin missiles and firing howitzers and machine guns to repel an unnamed enemy trying to storm the beach, said Reuters.
US and Filipino military personnel sank five floating pontoons standing in for amphibious landing ships as part of their annual exercises called Balikatan, or "shoulder-to-shoulder".
The annual drills, which involve about 16,000 Filipino and American troops and began last month, will run until May 10. They come at a time of escalating tensions between the Philippines and China in the South China Sea.
Last week, the Philippines accused China of using water cannons against their vessels around the disputed Scarborough Shoal, which damaged naval vessels and injured people onboard.
On Monday, Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr said his country would not retaliate in kind, saying the Philippines did not want to raise tensions.
The exercises have irked China, which has warned of destabilization when countries outside the region "flex muscles and stoke confrontation".
Several of the drills this year were set in islands and provinces facing Taiwan and the South China Sea. Laoag City is about 408 km (254 miles) from Taiwan's southernmost point.
'NOT FOR MESSAGING'
US Marines Lieutenant General Michael Cederholm, commander of joint task force Balikatan, told reporters on Monday the exercises were meant to improve how the forces operate alongside each other and were not directed against a specific adversary.
"We don't do this for any third party. We don't do this for messaging. We do this to create interoperability," Cederholm said, without mentioning China.
The main exercises will culminate with a "maritime strike" on Wednesday, in which the combined forces of the Philippines and the United States will sink a decommissioned Philippine navy ship. The annual drills will officially end on Friday.
Other exercises have included simulations of retaking occupied islands and a multilateral sail with France and Australia in the South China Sea, inside the Philippines' exclusive economic zone.
Security engagements between Manila and Washington have increased under Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr., who has allowed Americans to access more Philippine bases under an enhanced defense cooperation agreement, including facilities close to Taiwan and facing the South China Sea.
The United States and Philippines also began joint patrols in the South China Sea last year.
US officials, including President Joe Biden, have affirmed its "ironclad" commitment to defend the Philippines against any armed attack under their 1951 mutual defense treaty.

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What to Know about the Group of Seven Summit in Canada that Trump Will Attend

FILE - A Canada flag, left, and an Alberta flag flap in the breeze with Wedge Mountain in the background at the site of the G7 Leaders meeting in Kananaskis, Alberta, June 2, 2025. (Jeff McIntosh/The Canadian Press via AP, file)
FILE - A Canada flag, left, and an Alberta flag flap in the breeze with Wedge Mountain in the background at the site of the G7 Leaders meeting in Kananaskis, Alberta, June 2, 2025. (Jeff McIntosh/The Canadian Press via AP, file)
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What to Know about the Group of Seven Summit in Canada that Trump Will Attend

FILE - A Canada flag, left, and an Alberta flag flap in the breeze with Wedge Mountain in the background at the site of the G7 Leaders meeting in Kananaskis, Alberta, June 2, 2025. (Jeff McIntosh/The Canadian Press via AP, file)
FILE - A Canada flag, left, and an Alberta flag flap in the breeze with Wedge Mountain in the background at the site of the G7 Leaders meeting in Kananaskis, Alberta, June 2, 2025. (Jeff McIntosh/The Canadian Press via AP, file)

US President Donald Trump will arrive Sunday for a Group of Seven summit in a country he has suggested should be annexed and as he wages a trade war with America’s longstanding allies.

Trump’s calls to make Canada the 51st US state have infuriated Canadians, and Prime Minister Mark Carney, who won his office by pledging to confront the US president’s increased aggression, now hosts the G7 summit.

Carney asserted this week that Washington no longer plays a predominant role on the world stage, imposing tariffs for access to its markets and reducing its contributions to collective security, The Associated Press said.

Carney has decided to abandon the annual practice of issuing a lengthy joint statement, or communiqué, at the summit’s conclusion as French President Emmanuel Macron did at the G7 summit in France in 2019.

The document typically outlines the consensus reached by leaders on summit issues and provides a roadmap for how they plan to tackle them.

Trump roiled the 2017 meeting in Italy over the climate change passage in that summit’s final statement. He then withdrew his support from the 2018 communiqué after complaining he had been slighted by then Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, the host that year.

The leaders of the world's richest countries begin arriving Sunday in the resort town of Kananaskis, Alberta in the Canadian Rockies.

Who will attend The Group of Seven comprises Canada, the United States, France, Italy, Japan, Germany and Britain. The European Union also attends as well as other heads of state who are not part of the G7 but have been invited by Carney.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy will attend and is expected to meet with Trump, a reunion coming just months after their contentious Oval Office encounter, which laid bare the risks of having a meeting with the US president.

Other world leaders will be meeting with Trump both in a group setting and for bilateral talks, which are often precarious as foreign leaders must navigate between placating and confronting him.

“Anything could happen. The Canadians would be crazy not to anticipate something. We can’t tell. That’s Trump stock and trade. He likes to keep everyone guessing,” said Robert Bothwell, a University of Toronto professor of Canadian history and international relations.

“It all depends what kind of theater he’s going to want to have,” he said.

Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum will attend and said she expects to have her first in-person meeting with Trump. On his way to Canada, Macron is making a notable stop in Greenland, the semi autonomous Danish territory that the US president has also suggested annexing.

Among the other newcomers are German Chancellor Friedrich Merz, Prime Minister Keir Starmer and Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba.

Starmer will meet with Carney on Saturday in Ottawa before flying to Alberta.

Carney also invited Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, despite accusations from Canada's national police force that agents of Modi's government were involved in “widespread” violence in Canada.

Will Trump upstage this G7 too?

The 2018 G7 summit in Quebec was thrown into disarray after Trump called Trudeau “dishonest” and “weak," while complaining that he had been blindsided by Trudeau’s criticism of Trump’s tariff threats at a summit-ending news conference. Trump pulled out of the G7 group statement just as it was released.

“We weren’t too happy because we thought we managed to pull off a pretty good summit,” said Peter Boehm, Canada’s deputy minister for the Quebec summit." The reaction — and I was with Mr. Trudeau at the time — was a bit of disbelief."

Boehm expects a chair's summary from Carney this year instead of a joint statement from the leaders.

During the Quebec summit, Trump also insisted on Russia's readmission to the elite group, from which it was ousted in 2014 following President Vladimir Putin’s annexation of Crimea.

“Trump raised that at the foreign policy dinner," Boehm recalled. “It was a bit awkward because British Prime Minister Theresa May was there and some British citizens had just been killed by Russian operatives using a toxic agent.”

Former Russian spy Sergei Skripal and his daughter, Yulia, were targeted in a nerve agent attack a few months before the Quebec summit in the English city of Salisbury.

Looming tariffs

US Ambassador to Canada Pete Hoekstra has said that Carney has been quietly holding direct talks with Trump about a trade deal in the lead up to the summit. Separately, top Canadian cabinet ministers have also been in Washington for negotiations in recent weeks.

Trade tensions may be unavoidable. The United States runs trade deficits with all G7 countries except the United Kingdom. In an effort to balance what he describes as America’s lopsided trade relations, Trump has imposed 10% import taxes — tariffs — on almost every country in the world. He also announced bigger tariffs, then suspended them, on countries that sell more to the United States than they buy.

“The big X Factor (is) the looming tariffs,” said Max Bergmann of the Center for Strategic and International Studies. “The G7 is supposed to provide global economic governance. And the way the Europeans see it right now is that the country that’s the source of major instability in global economic affairs is the United States.’’

Trump’s trade wars are already threatening the world economy. The World Bank on Tuesday sharply downgraded its forecast for global economic growth this year, citing “a substantial rise in trade barriers.’’

A prelude to NATO summit NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte will attend the G7 meeting ahead of this month's NATO summit and has said most US allies in the alliance endorse Trump’s demand that they invest 5% of gross domestic product on their defense needs.

Carney said this week Canada would meet NATO's current 2% target but seemed to suggest he would not support 5%, saying his goal is to protect Canadians, and not to satisfy NATO accountants.

Why such a remote location

Law enforcement overseeing security expect large protests but say protesters won't be able to get anywhere near Kananaskis, as access roads to the summit will be closed to the public.

The Mounties say there will be designated G7 demonstration zones in Calgary and Banff, Alberta that will have live audio and video feeds, which will be broadcast to G7 leaders and delegations at the summit. Kananaskis also hosted a G8 summit in 2002.