美国菲律宾联合军演规模比去年扩大一倍

The United States and the Philippines on Monday launched their biggest joint military exercise in 15 years, with a focus on enhancing preparedness in the region.

This year's annual 10-day Balikatan exercise is twice as large as last year's, involving around 11,000 troops from both nations. The expanded drill is part of Washington's Pacific Pathways program, an effort to boost the U.S. military presence in the Pacific in the face of China's rapid territorial expansion in the South China Sea.

China's rapid reclamation activities around seven reefs in the Spratly Islands has alarmed other claimants, including the Philippines and Vietnam.

U.S. President Barack Obama has said Washington is concerned China is using its "sheer size and muscle" to push around smaller nations in the disputed sea.美国和菲律宾星期一开始举行15年来最大规模的联合军事演习，重点加强地区防范。

今年举行的这次代号为“肩并肩”的年度军演规模是去年军演的两倍，美菲两国参与军人约1万1千人。此次扩大规模的军演是华盛顿建立太平洋通道计划的组成部分；美国努力加强在太平洋的军事存在，以应对中国在南中国海迅速扩大的填海造岛活动。

中国在斯普拉特利群岛七个岛礁周围的填海造岛活动使其他几个对该地区有主权要求的国家和地区感到不安，包括菲律宾和越南。

美国总统奥巴马曾经表示，华盛顿担心中国利用其“规模和实力”在有争议海域欺负较小的国家。