The United States has held at least 85 military exercises with its allies in the Asia-Pacific region this year as it seeks to counter Beijing’s rise, particularly in the South China Sea, according to a mainland think tank. Collin Koh, a research fellow with the Maritime Security Programme at RSIS in Singapore, said boosting interoperability between the US and its regional allies would complicate Beijing’s military planning in the South China Sea. “These exercises not only bolster the overall capabilities and capacities of [Association of Southeast Asian Nations] navies but make it easier for them to work alongside the US military in times of need,” he said. But despite the Pentagon’s ambitions, the US initiatives were sometimes limited by the size and structure of its allies’ navies.