THE United States and Philippines began war games in the South China Sea and Taiwan Strait today as China warned that the combat exercises must not harm its “sovereignty, maritime rights and security interests.”

In the Philippine capital Manila, protesters were arrested as they opposed the exercises, the largest ever held by the two allies.

They involve more than 17,600 military personnel and are set to continue until April 28.

This latest provocative display of US firepower in Asia adds to already high tensions in the region, where the Biden administration has been building up its military strength in an arc around China.

According to the Pentagon’s own figures, the US has at least 313 bases in east Asia and about 750 worldwide.

In contrast, China has one base in Djibouti and several in the South China Sea, bringing its total foreign military bases to about eight.

Last week, Beijing warned against the intensifying US military deployment in the region. Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Mao Ning said at a regular news briefing that it “would only lead to more tensions and less peace and stability in the region."

On Monday, her Foreign Ministry colleague Wang Wenbin insisted that the US drills “must not interfere in South China Sea disputes, still less harm China’s territorial sovereignty, maritime rights and interests and security interests.”

There has long been opposition to the US military presence in the Philippines. 

Before the latest drills, International Peace Bureau co-president Corazon Valdez Fabros was reported in US magazine the Nation as expressing concern that the US military presence in the region would make war between the US and China more likely.

“Why can’t they do this training in their own country?” she asked. “That makes more sense. Of course, they’re doing it here to be aggressive.” 

The League of Filipino Students mounted a “lightning rally” against the military exercises in front of the US embassy in Manila, but the protest was brutally broken up by the authorities with a number of participants arrested.

The students said they condemned the police brutality and the illegal arrests of protesters after the peaceful demonstration.

The league said: “Their acts of violence only further expose the role of the state as mutts of the US who act at the expense of the Filipino people.”

The number of protesters arrested could not be confirmed.

The Philippines was a US colony from 1898 to 1946.