Soldiers arrange landing on remote deserted islands in Japanese waters
The Japanese Self-Defence Forces, together with the French and US forces, will manoeuvre in May 2021. The Sankei newspaper reports this on Sunday, citing sources.
In the course of the exercise, the military will organise a landing on remote deserted islands in the waters of Japan and work out a scenario for their defence and release.
According to the newspaper, these manoeuvres may send a deterrent signal to the Chinese authorities who are in a territorial dispute with the Japanese government over the Senkaku (Diaoyu) Islands in the East China Sea.
On 5 December, Kyodo News Agency reported that the UK intends to send an aircraft carrier as part of an attack team to Japan in 2021 to conduct exercises in the East China Sea with Japanese and American military personnel.
The territorial dispute over the Senkaku Islands (Diaoyutao) between Japan and China escalated after Tokyo announced in September 2012 that it had purchased the aircraft from private owners. This was followed by mass anti-Japanese demonstrations in China. Since then, Chinese ships have been constantly cruising near the disputed islands and have made occasional demonstration visits to the coastal zone.