US military helping Japan counter its ‘greatest security challenge’ from China, says top commander
- Major General Joel Vowell, the commander of the US Army in Japan, says Tokyo has shifted its focus towards the PLA’s ability to threaten its southwest islands
- Japan is worried that the Chinese military could block or seize some of the islands, including the Ryukyu chain, to deter it from intervening if Taiwan is attacked
The US military has been working with its Japanese counterpart to shore up defences in the country’s southwest islands with joint military exercises targeting the activities of the People’s Liberation Army, Major General Joel Vowell, the commander of the US Army in Japan, said on Thursday.
Japan had shifted its defensive focus from North Korea to China because of the threat the People’s Liberation Army could pose to the islands of southwestern Japan, including the Ryukyu chain, he added.
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Some exercises by the US military and the Japan Ground Self-Defence Force, including the annual Yama Sakura and Orient Shield drills, focus on scenarios such as an invasion or Japanese sovereignty being compromised.
“Japan looks at that and they’ve seen the threat from Chinese coastguard militias that have pushed out Japanese fishermen around the islands. They’ve seen all these naval and air activities that have happened in and around Japanese exclusive economic zones.”
Taiwan ‘critical’ to peace in the Indo-Pacific: head of de facto US embassy says
The US military said China deliberately ensured that the missiles landed in the EEZs as a strategic message, but Beijing rejected that claim and said it had not agreed on the limits of the zone.
Beijing has always opposed official interactions with Taiwanese officials. It sees Taiwan as a breakaway province that must be united with the mainland, by force if necessary.
Most countries, including the US, do not recognise Taiwan as an independent state. But Washington is bound by law to supply arms for the self-ruled island’s defence and only acknowledges – but does not agree with – Beijing’s position that Taiwan is part of China.
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The PLA tested the ability, called Anti-Access/Area Denial, weeks ago during the PLA’s drills around Taiwan with an aircraft carrier group led by the Shandong.
Positioned to the east of Taiwan, it practised ways to stop other forces from coming to Taiwan’s aid from the Western Pacific, for example from Japan or Guam.
US President Joe Biden has said several times that American troops would come to Taiwan’s aid if Beijing attacked, but White House officials each time said that US policy had not changed. Analysts have said Washington was abandoning its long-held strategic ambiguity.
The US military has stationed more active-duty service members and civilian defence personnel in Japan than any other country outside America. Okinawa, the largest of the Ryukyu Islands, is home to around half the US troops stationed in Japan.
The Pentagon routinely describes China as a systemic challenge because of its potential to outcompete the US on multiple fronts and intention to change the international order.
