Australia’s defence minister grilled on drills ‘preparing for war with China’

The Defence Minister has addressed reports from the Philippines where local and US troops are engaged in “full-scale war” training.

Defence Minister Richard Marles has baulked at comments labelling a military operation involving Australian troops in the Philippines as “preparing for war with China”.

Joint US-Philippines army training exercises have been taking place this week as part of the 40th Balikatan – or “shoulder to shoulder” – program held close to Taiwan.

Australia has participated annually since 2014 and Japan also became a full-fledged participant in 2025. China has long been opposed to drills taking place near the disputed South China Sea and has been engaged in confrontations with Manila.

7.30 host Sarah Ferguson. Picture: ABC

Defence Minister Richard Marles. Picture: NewsWire / David Geraghty

Host of the ABC’s 730, Sarah Ferguson, on Wednesday put to Mr Marles that a senior US Marine described the training exercises as “a war plan being tested”.

“Why are Australian military involved in exercises preparing for war with China?” she asked.

This year’s exercises were also described as a “full-scale battle scenario” by the Philippines military.

In response to Ferguson’s question Mr Marles, who is also the Deputy Prime Minister, said he did not “embrace that language … the way in which you asserted the question”.

He went on to clarify that “when you do exercises, you are practising for the real thing”.

“That is actually what a defence exercise is,” he said.

“We are doing more exercises with the Philippines, and we’re doing more exercises with the United States.

“And we’re doing them more in a trilateral way as is described.

“And it’s really important that we are doing that to build the network of capability and interoperability with defence forces within our region.”

About 260 Australian Defence Force personnel have arrived in the Philippines to participate in the 40th iteration of Exercise Balikatan. Picture: Defence

Mr Marles said such exercises were also “about building our own innate capability”.

“It is absolutely about pursuing our alliance with the United States. But it’s also about building our defence relationships with countries in the region,” he said.

“We’re doing that more with the Philippines, but we’re doing it more with Japan.

“We look forward doing it much more with Indonesia as part of our defence co-operation agreement with Indonesia.”

At Balikatan, US Marine Corps Lieutenant General James Glynn replied “we are ready” when asked if the joint forces could respond to aggression in the South China Sea.

“Our combined strength … possesses a degree of lethality for a force that possesses an indomitable warrior ethos and spirit,” Mr Glynn said, according to the Military Times.

”It’s all dedicated to one purpose, to ensure the defence of the Philippines and to maintain a free and open Indo-Pacific.”

He also noted “nothing builds bonds more quickly than shared adversity”, without specifying a common threat.

Philippine military chief Romeo Brawner (left) and US Marines Lieutenant General James Glynn. Picture: AP Photo/Aaron Favila

US Marines Colonel Doug Krugman also said: “It is like a war plan being tested”.

Sophisticated US weapons including the NMESIS anti-ship missile system will also be deployed, including near a crucial chokepoint in the waters separating the northern Philippines from self-ruled Taiwan.

Philippines Major General Francisco Lorenzo added that the 40th Balikatan exercises would reinforce the country’s ability to address “contemporary security challenges”.

According to Defence, about 260 members of the Australian Defence Force were among 14,000 personnel at Balikatan 2025, which runs until May.

In a statement on Monday, Australia’s Vice Admiral Justin Jones said the Philippines was “one of our closest partners and friends, and under our Strategic Partnership, our defence relationship continues to deepen”.

“Balikatan 2025 highlights the United States and Philippines’ commitment to their bilateral partnership as well as interoperability with other partner nations.”

A High Mobility Artillery Rocket System (HIMARS) is fired during live fire exercises as part of US-Philippines drills in 2023. Picture: Ezra Acayan/Getty Images

The Philippines has been engaged in months of confrontations with Beijing over disputed areas of the South China Sea.

It has steadily deepened defence co-operation with treaty ally the US since President Ferdinand Marcos took office in 2022 and began pushing back on China’s sweeping claims to the crucial waterway.

During a recent visit to Manila, US Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth said Washington was “doubling down” on the alliance.

“Deterrence is necessary around the world, but specifically in this region, in your country – considering the threats from the Communist Chinese,” he said in late March.

In response to the drills, Beijing accused Manila of “collusion with countries outside the region”.

The exercises “undermine regional strategic stability”, said foreign ministry spokesman Guo Jiakun.

“This has already aroused strong aversion and opposition from regional countries,” he said.

– with AFP.

Originally published as Australia’s defence minister grilled on drills ‘preparing for war with China’