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US-China relations
ChinaMilitary

Drills aplenty as China and US step up military preparedness in Asia-Pacific region

  • Seoul plans first large-scale combined live-fire exercise with US forces in six years
  • China and Russia stage joint naval drill in East China Sea off Zhejiang province.

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A US Air Force B-52H strategic bomber (top), a US Air Force C-17 cargo aircraft (top right) and four South Korean Air Force F-35A fighter jets fly over South Korea during a joint drill on December 20. Photo: AFP/South Korean Defence Ministry
Seong Hyeon Choi

The intensifying rivalry between China and the United States has pushed both nations to step up military preparedness in the Asia-Pacific region, observers said.

While the US has been staging more drills with its Asian allies and intensifying security ties – partly aimed at deterring North Korea but also at sending a warning to China – the Chinese mainland has wrapped up drills with Russia and exercises around Taiwan.

The US and South Korea conducted a joint air force drill on December 20 in response to North Korean missile launches. The exercise included Washington’s strategic assets, such as F-22 stealth fighters and B-52 bombers, for the first time in four years.
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In a joint statement issued in November, the US and South Korean defence ministers agreed to use more US strategic assets on the Korean peninsula to provide “extended deterrence” against North Korea’s nuclear threat.

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US sends F-22 fighters to joint drills with South Korea

US sends F-22 fighters to joint drills with South Korea

Seoul announced a plan to expand the joint drill next year, including the first large-scale combined live-fire exercise in six years.

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Andrew Yeo, a senior fellow and the SK-Korea Foundation chair of Korea studies at the Brookings Institution in Washington, said that if North Korea continued to develop nuclear weapons, the US and its allies would continue to increase their military response to Pyongyang.
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