Why China, the Philippines are conducting massive military exercises

According to some analysts, an unusually large joint military exercise being conducted by the United States and the Philippines answers Manila as a growing threat from China. US military personnel from the Philippines on Monday joined troops for a scheduled exercise called Balikatan, which means "shoulder to shoulder." A US defense official called it the largest ever, with 3,800 Philippine participants and 5,100 from the United States. Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte has turned to the United States over the past two years after attempting to make friends with China. China offered billions of dollars of development aid to the relatively…