U.S., Japan hold joint exercise in shadow of China

Nov. 14 (UPI) -- The U.S. military and the Japanese Self-Defense Forces are holding a large-scale joint military exercise around the Tokunoshima Island southwest of the country in the face of increasing Chinese presence there.

The exercise, called "Keen Sword 23" involving 26,000 personnel from the Japanese military and another 10,000 U.S. soldiers began on Thursday and will run through Saturday. Australia, Canada and Britain also have smaller units there.

"Exercises like Keen Sword provide the JSDF and U.S. military opportunities to train together across a variety of mission areas in realistic scenarios to enhance readiness, interoperability, and build credible deterrence," U.S. Forces Japan said in a statement last week.

"Keen Sword is a key opportunity to foster ever closer cooperation between the United States and Japan and reinforce their strong alliance and shared values."

Japanese authorities have said they are increasingly concerned about China's aggressiveness in the Indo-Pacific region, including the communist country repeatedly crossing into Japanese territorial waters near the Senkaku Islands.

While Japan controls the uninhabited islets in the East China Sea, China also claims them. Beijing has also increased its military operations around Taiwan. Taiwan has operated as a self-governed democratic island for decades but China considers it a breakaway province.

Keen Sword exercises will also involve responding to ballistic missiles, as well as new threats such as operations in space and cyberspace.