For the first time since its inception, the French navy will be participating in the Balikatan exercises, the largest annual bilateral military exercise between the United States Army and the AFP (Armed Forces of the Philippines), taking place from April 22nd to May 10th in the Philippines.
The CSRP (Comité de Support à la Révolution aux Philippines) denounces France’s participation in the 2024 Balikatan exercises as a sign of France’s subservience to march in lockstep with the US and its war provocations against China, and as one more step closer to solidifying French interests in the Asia Pacific region in general and the Philippines in particular.
This 39th iteration of the Balikatan military training exercise takes place in a context of intensified US foreign policy of militarization of the Asia Pacific region, aimed at surrounding China with naval bases to exert political pressure and restrict sea access. The Philippines play a key role in the US ‘First Island Chain Strategy’ due to their geographic location and the long and ongoing history of US colonial and imperial control of the archipelago.
In the brewing inter-imperialist feud between US and China, the US intends to use the Filipino people as cannon fodder in its game of brinkmanship to provoke China into firing the first shot. This in turn will allow the US and its imperialist allies, including France, to justify armed actions versus China.
Given the ongoing repression of the Filipino people by its US-backed government and the escalation of inter-imperialist tensions in the Philippine sea, why did France decide to partake in this highly controversial military exercise?
France’s participation in the biggest annual military exercise in the Philippines comes at the continuous increase of French military presence in the indo-pacific, in line with Macron’s 2018 announcement of a new French ‘Indo-Pacific Strategy’. After the signing of a defense cooperation agreement in 2016 followed two letters of intent in 2019 and 2023, both specifically on maritime cooperation. Indeed, one key aspect of the military and defense cooperation between France and the Philippines is the navy, as is exemplified by past joint passing exercises in the South China Sea, Philippine marines being trained in France in submarine operations, and France’s ongoing attempt to sell its submarines to the Filipino Navy.
As France is losing military and political influence in West Africa, and criticisms arise regarding arms-trade to Israel and Macron’s announcement regarding the potential envoi of French troops in Ukraine, the government is grappling to try and assert its presence in the Asia-Pacific region. As you can see on the map below, the Philippines is a missing link in their strategic military presence, which they now try to fill.
This increased military cooperation, of which the latest includes the announced the opening of an office by the Naval group and the establishment of a French defense mission to Manila in order to “create strategic and operational intimacy between the two armies and increase the number of naval and air ports of call in the Philippines”, is also intended to secure France’s growing economic interests in the region. Indeed, France has almost 120 Ffrench company subsidiaries in the Philippines, mainly in the transport and energy sector which contribute to the exploitation of the Filipino land and people. This number is continuously growing due to the liberalization of the economy under Marcos Jr., which attracts French investment in the Philippines. Through its growing military and economic presence in the Philippines, France is making itself complicit in the ongoing exploitation and oppression of the Filipino people, who have been waging a long struggle against Imperialism and for their national liberation!
Indeed, in addition to dragging the Philippines into a conflict steered by their own economic interests, the US is also directly participating in the intensification of the oppression of the Filipino people through economic and trade agreements such as the recent ‘Philippines Enhanced Resilience Act’ which was introduced on April 10th. The 2024 PERA Act aims to strengthen US-Philippine military alliances by “modernizing the defense capabilities of the Philippines”, and notably strengthen cooperation in counter-terrorism efforts.
What the Filipino government calls “counter-terrorism” or “counter-insurgency” efforts has been exposed by various international humanitarian organizations such as Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International as gross violations of Human Rights, specifically regarding the targeting of activists, journalists and students standing up for their rights. In fact, the former president Rodrigo Duterte is currently being investigated by the International Criminal Court for possible violations of Human Rights during the so-called war on drugs which was launched in 2016. Current president Marcos Jr., son of the famous Dictator Marcos Senior, is continuing this legacy through ongoing indiscriminate bombings in the countryside, enforced disappearances and red-tagging.
Filipino activist groups in the country and abroad have been clear that the first threat to the sovereignty of the Philippines is US Imperialism and that they refused to get dragged into an inter-imperialist war of which working Filipinos will pay the highest price. As an anti-imperialist solidarity organization, we stand with the Filipino people in their struggle against US Imperialism and for their right to social justice and equal rights and call on all French progressive organizations to join us in condemning France’s role in the ongoing military oppression of the Filipino people.
In order to heighten international awareness and accountability of the ongoing struggle of the Filipino people, an International People’s Tribunal will be held from the 17th to the 18th of May in Europe which aims to address war crimes and violations of international Humanitarian Law committed by the US-supported Marcos and Duterte regimes as part of the counterrevolutionary war. This quasi-judicial forum is organized by the International Association of Democratic Lawyers (IADL) and the Friends of the Filipino People in Struggle (FFPS) – a federation of progressive organizations which support the Filipino struggle for national liberation of which the CSRP is part of – to serve as a platform for victims and advocates and their organizations to present evidence and legal arguments related to the crimes committed against the Filipino people.
Comité de Support à la Révolution aux Philippines – CSRP