The United States and Japan reportedly simulated missile attacks on Chinese naval vessels invading the self-ruled island of Taiwan during a joint military exercise last year.
Newsweek has emailed the U.S. Forces Japan and the Japanese military for comment. The Chinese Defense Ministry did not immediately respond to a written request for comment.
Why It Matters
Communist China has long claimed Taiwan as its territory, despite never having governed it. The Chinese military held two days of large-scale exercises around the island last week, testing the response of the U.S., which is Taipei’s major security partner.
Taiwan forms part of the First Island Chain with two American allies, Japan and the Philippines, serving as a check on possible Chinese aggression in the Western Pacific Ocean. Washington and Tokyo had formulated a missile deployment plan for a Taiwan contingency, Japan’s Kyodo News said.
China has the world’s largest navy by hull count, with over 370 vessels. It has recently built landing barges that could be put to use during an amphibious invasion of Taiwan.
What To Know
Citing multiple sources, The Sankei Shimbun, a Japanese newspaper, reported on Sunday that a command and control exercise, codenamed Keen Edge, was held between American and Japanese forces simulating a scenario in which China launched an invasion of Taiwan.
The drill, which ran from February 1 to 8 last year, simulated Chinese attacks on Taiwan and a U.S. military base in Sasebo, Japan. In response, the U.S. side requested that it and its Japanese counterpart strike the Chinese naval fleet transiting the 110-mile-wide Taiwan Strait.
According to the report, the Japanese military accepted the request and dispatched fighter aircraft to hit Chinese military transport vessels with anti-ship missiles. Japan has acquired ship-sinking missiles from the U.S., as well as domestically developed similar weapons.
Chinese Defense Ministry
Regarding the targets, there were voices within Japan’s military that reportedly argued that Chinese aircraft carriers should be prioritized over other warships in the Taiwan Strait.
However, the Japanese military ultimately decided that the carriers were what it called a “low priority” target for attacks at the time of the exercise. CNS Shandong, one of the three Chinese aircraft carriers, took part in the war games around Taiwan recently.
Last year’s bilateral war game also simulated a Chinese invasion of Yonaguni, Japan’s westernmost island, that lies 67 miles to the east of Taiwan. Heightened tensions in the Taiwan Strait have turned Yonaguni into a frontline island, causing concern in Tokyo.
What People Are Saying
Guo Jiakun, spokesperson for the Chinese Foreign Ministry, said on April 3: “Taiwan is an inalienable part of China’s territory. The Taiwan question is at the core of China’s core interests, and bears on the political foundation of China-Japan relations and basic trust between the two countries.”
Japan’s defense white paper 2024 said: “China has been rapidly building up military capabilities while intensifying its activities in the East China Sea, where the waters surrounding the Senkaku Islands are, as well as in the Pacific.”
The Senkaku Islands are an islet group in the East China Sea, ruled by Japan but claimed by both China and Taiwan as the Diaoyu Islands and the Tiaoyutai Islands, respectively.
A G7 Foreign Ministers’ statement on April 6 read: “G7 members [Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the United Kingdom, and the U.S.] and the larger international community have an interest in the preservation of peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait. We oppose any unilateral actions to threaten such peace and stability, including by force or coercion.”
What Happens Next
It remains to be seen how Japan will further strengthen the defense of its outlying islands in waters near Taiwan. It previously announced the deployment of a Type 03 anti-air missile system on Yonaguni, which can hit targets up to 30 miles away.
