Japan and the United States began ten days of joint military maneuvers involving tens of thousands of soldiers on Wednesday, a week after vast military exercises to encircle Taiwan led by China.
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Beijing’s growing military power and increasingly close defense ties between Washington and allies like Japan have raised fears of confrontation over Taiwan and other territorial disputes in the Asia-Pacific.
Exercise Keen Sword will involve 45,000 Japanese and American troops, 40 ships and 370 aircraft, as well as members of the Australian and Canadian forces, the US Joint Chiefs of Staff said.
These maneuvers, which take place every two years, will take place throughout Japan, including at Japanese and American military bases, until November 1.
“We have a strong sense of urgency, cannot rule out the possibility that a serious crisis like in Ukraine could occur near our country,” Gen. Yoshihide Yoshida, the highest-ranking Japan Self-Defense Force, said Tuesday. (FJA).
“We are determined to prevent such a situation,” he stressed at a press conference, adding that the US-Japan alliance was essential for regional stability.
“A sharp sword will allow us to maintain our advantage over those who seek to undermine the rules-based international order,” said Admiral Steve Koehler, commander of the US Pacific Fleet.
As part of the drills, Osprey hybrid aircraft will travel for the first time to Yonaguni, the Japanese island closest to Taiwan, as part of an “evacuation” exercise, an official told AFP. spokesperson for the FJA.
However, he clarified that this was the evacuation of residents and tourists “in the event of a natural disaster”.
The new Japanese Prime Minister, Shigeru Ishiba, also estimated at the beginning of October that “the Ukraine of today could foreshadow the East Asia of tomorrow”, during his first general policy speech.
The leader, who faces difficult legislative elections on Sunday, is in favor of the creation of a regional military alliance on the NATO model, although he clarified that this would not happen overnight.
In August, a Chinese military aircraft made the first incursion confirmed by Beijing into Japanese airspace, followed on September 18 by the passage, also for the first time, of a Chinese aircraft carrier between two Japanese islands near Taiwan , including Yonaguni.
