Japan began its first nationwide full-scale military exercise in nearly 30 years on Wednesday, with the aim of strengthening its ability to defend remote islands in the event that China takes tough actions in the Indo-Pacific region.
Japan’s Defense Minister Nobuo Kishi said: “In order to effectively respond to various situations, including attacks on islands, the necessary forces must be deployed quickly and widely according to the situation.” Kyodo News reported.
“In an increasingly uncertain security environment, our focus will be on combat preparations,” the official added.
The Japanese Ground Self-Defense Force (GDSF) announced that the military exercise will involve all troops and will continue until mid-to-late November. According to the network, the exercise will include approximately 100,000 personnel, 20,000 vehicles and 120 aircraft.
Two Ground Self-Defense Force divisions from Hokkaido and Tohoku regions and a brigade in the Shikoku region, with a total of 12,000 soldiers and nearly 4,000 vehicles, will begin expedition missions in southwestern Japan next week.
The latest exercise of the Japan Ground Self-Defense Force was the first large-scale military exercise since 1993. At that time, the Japan Ground Self-Defense Force was the largest of Japan’s three operational branches and participated in a military exercise about two years after the end of the Cold War. .
In May, dozens of troops from Japan, the United States, and France conducted the first joint exercise of these three allies on Japanese territory, seeking to strengthen military relations in the context of China’s growing self-confidence.
Taiwan’s annual drill reaches its peak
Also on September 15, a Taiwanese fighter jet landed on a temporary runway on a highway supervised by President Tsai Ing-wen, as the annual exercise reached its peak, which is a skill required when China attacks and targets Taiwan’s fragile air base.
Mr. Tsai re-elected a landslide’s commitment to China last year, which has made Taiwan’s modernization a priority for the US military equipment, turning it into a “porcupine”, both of which are highly mobile and difficult to attack.
Three fighter jets-an F-16, a French-made Mirage and a local defense fighter jet-plus an E-2 Hawkeye early warning aircraft, landed on a specially designed straight flat in the southern rural area of Pingtung County The road belt quickly changed from a highway to a runway.
Tsai Ing-wen wrote on Facebook under the official name of Taiwan: “Such excellent combat skills and quick and real actions come from solid daily training, and also reflect the confidence of the ROC Air Force in defending its airspace.”
Taiwan has five emergency highway runways all over the island. If China attacks an air base, these runways can be put into use, which means that the air force can still operate.
On the occasion of military exercises in Japan and Taiwan, senior envoys from Japan, the United States, and South Korea met in Tokyo on Tuesday to discuss North Korea’s missile and nuclear developments the day after Pyongyang’s new long-range cruise missile was tested.
The communist country successfully tested a new type of missile capable of hitting a target 930 miles away over the weekend. Analysts say that this missile may be North Korea’s first nuclear weapon of its kind.
Richard Fisher, a senior researcher at the International Evaluation and Strategy Center (IASC), told the Epoch Times in an email on September 13 that China and Iran are “very likely” to support the development and manufacture of missiles.
Anders Corr and Reuters contributed to this report.
From NTD News
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This News Originally From – The Epoch Times
