(Photo Credit: AP)
(BGF) – According to Reuters, in an article picked up by DNAIndia.com, Japan will host a military exercise from May 10 to May 27. The exercise is designed to provide practice defending an island and will take place on an uninhabited island in Japan’s Ryukyu chain. Although the exercise seems to coincide with fears regarding Japan’s territorial dispute with China over the Senkaku/Diaoyu Islands, Japan’s military insists that the exercise is not in response to the tensions with China. Click here to read the full article or visit DNAIndia.com.
Japan to conduct island defense drill amid tension with China
Reuters
Japan will conduct a military exercise this month to practice defending an island, the Defence Ministry said on Thursday, underscoring concern about the East China Sea islands controlled by Japan but claimed by China.
The dispute over the islands, called the Senkaku in Japan and Diaoyu in China, has raised fears of a clash between the Asian neighbours which could even drag in the United States.
Separately, China said on Wednesday it would carry out naval exercises with Russia in the East China Sea in what it called a bid to deepen military cooperation.
Japan’s Defence Ministry said the island defence exercise would run from May 10 to May 27 on a small uninhabited island in the Ryukyu chain, some 600 km (375 miles) northeast of the disputed isles. Some parts of the exercise will be held in southwestern Japan’s Nagasaki prefecture and waters off Okinawa Island’s east coast. Okinawa is home is a major US military base and Japan also bases forces there.
It will be the first time that Japan’s military, known as the Self-Defence Forces, will use an actual island for island defence training involving its ground, air and maritime divisions. About 1,300 troops, as well as several fighter jets and destroyers, will practice landing on and retaking the island, the ministry said.
Click here to continue reading.