SAN DIEGO, June 10 (UPI) -- Japan, seeking to improve its ability to defend remote islands, began a two-week joint military drill with the United States on an island in California.
The drill, which will last through June 26 to practice recapturing control of remote islands, is the first such in which Japan's ground, maritime and air self-defense forces are participating with U.S. troops in the United States, Kyodo News reported.
China, whose relations with Japan have worsened since its territorial dispute over the Senkaku Islands in the East China Sea, has objected to the drill and asked the training be canceled. Japan and the United States, however, say they have no particular enemy country in mind, Kyodo reported.
The report said about 1,000 personnel of Japan's self-defense forces are taking part in the exercise and its ships include the Atago, a destroyer equipped with the Aegis missile interceptor system, and the helicopter-carrying destroyer Hyuga.
Kyodo said the drill is part of another joint training exercise among the United States, Canada and New Zealand.
