Military exercise may escalate tension in region, expert says

The ongoing US-Philippines military drill, which apparently targets China, and the predicted passage of US Navy vessels near China's Nansha Islands are designed to serve US interests at the cost of China's, observers said.

Manila is eager to expand its territory to China's Meiji Reef in the South China Sea, said Yang Xiyu, a research fellow at the China Institute of International Studies, and the US "might use its joint drill with the Philippines to show support for the expansion."