The United States and its allies have conducted their largest-ever annual military exercises in the Philippines (an archipelago nation in Southeast Asia that hosts longstanding US military bases), staging new tactics and coalition manoeuvres in waters close to Taiwan. The drills are designed to signal deterrence against China, which claims sovereignty over Taiwan and has ramped up military activity in the region. Beijing responded by staging its own parallel exercises nearby, underscoring the deepening strategic rivalry playing out across the western Pacific.