US and Japan Conduct Joint Military Drills Amid Growing Tensions with China in Indo-Pacific Region

The 6th Air Wing of Japan Air Self-Defense Force's F-15 fighters participate in a joint military drill.

Tokyo:

US strategic bombers conducted joint military exercises with Japanese fighter jets to demonstrate their military cooperation in Japanese airspace, defense officials announced Thursday, amid escalating tensions with China.

This demonstration of joint Japanese-US air power occurred just one day after Chinese and Russian bombers flew together around western Japan, prompting Tokyo to scramble fighter jets, though no airspace violations were reported. The exercise also follows a recent incident where Chinese military aircraft locked radar on Japanese jets on Saturday, further deteriorating Tokyo-Beijing relations.

On Friday morning, Japanese Defense Minister Shinjiro Koizumi and US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth held telephone discussions regarding the "increasingly severe security situation in the Indo-Pacific region, including the radar incident," according to a statement from the Japanese defense ministry. The statement did not specifically mention the flight drills.

The ministers expressed serious concern over actions that increase regional tensions, stating that "China's actions are not conducive to regional peace and stability." Koizumi affirmed that Japan will continue surveillance and monitoring activities in the airspace and waters surrounding the country.

The Japanese Joint Staff stated that Japan's Air Self Defense-Force and the US military conducted their joint exercise on Wednesday because "the security environment surrounding our country is becoming even severer."

The allies "reaffirmed the strong resolve to prevent unilateral attempts to change the status quo by force and the readiness between the SDF and the US forces."

Two US B-52 strategic bombers joined three Japanese F-35 stealth fighter jets and three F-15 jets in joint flight drills near Japan's western airspace, operating above the waters between Japan and South Korea, officials reported.

While the Joint Staff denied that the exercise was in response to any specific incident, they acknowledged that Chinese military aircraft's recent radar-locking on Japanese jets and the China-Russia joint bomber exercises on Tuesday exemplified the worsening security environment around Japan.

Japan-China relations have deteriorated following Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi's statement in early November suggesting that Japan's military could intervene if China were to take action against Taiwan, the self-governing island claimed by Beijing.

The dispute intensified over the weekend when Chinese drills involving a carrier near southern Japan prompted Tokyo to scramble jets and protest that Japanese aircraft were targeted by repeated radar-locking, a move considered as possible preparation for firing.

Tokyo lodged a protest with Beijing, requesting an explanation and preventive measures. China denied the allegations and accused Japanese jets of interfering with and endangering the Chinese exercise.

Washington emphasized its "unwavering" alliance with Japan, stating that the incident was not "conducive to regional peace and stability."

The exercise occurred just one day after Chinese and Russian strategic bombers conducted joint long-distance flights from the waters between Japan and South Korea down to the Pacific, according to the Joint Staff.

Two Russian Tu-95 strategic bombers that flew from the airspace east of the Korean Peninsula joined a pair of Chinese H-6 bombers over the East China Sea for a joint flight down to the Pacific off the southern coast of Japan's Shikoku island.

The four bombers were accompanied by four Chinese J-16 fighters as they flew back and forth between two Japanese southwestern islands, Okinawa and Miyako, an area where China is expanding its military presence.