Philippine and US forces will carry out maritime strike drills on a remote Philippine island near Taiwan during annual exercises that started on Monday, which Manila’s military chief said would test their readiness under “real-world conditions”. The April 20 to May 8 exercises known as “Balikatan”, or “shoulder-to-shoulder”, will be the largest yet in terms of participating countries, with Australia included again and Canada, France, New Zealand and Japan joining as active participants for the first time.