MANILA, Philippines --- The Philippines and the United States will stage their biggest-ever military exercise over the next several days starting Tuesday and signal tighter defense cooperation, amid China's increasing assertiveness in the South China Sea and toward Taiwan. Meanwhile, China is expected to conclude on Monday three days of military drills around self-ruled Taiwan, the island that Beijing views as its own territory. The 18-day exercise between Manila and Washington dubbed "Balikatan," a Tagalog term for "shoulder-to-shoulder" or "sharing the load together," will involve more than 17,000 troops --- 5,000 Filipinos, 12,000 Americans, and 111 Australians. This part...Keep on reading: ‘Combat-ready’ force in biggest ‘Balikatan’