US and Japanese soldiers have this week completed a joint training exercise along the coast of California that simulates invading islands captured by enemy troops.
Observers said it was a thinly veiled warning to China not to land forces on the Diaoyutai Islands (釣魚台).
“Memo to Beijing: Be forewarned,” an article in the New York Times said.
The amphibious operation has lasted for four-and-a-half weeks and involved more than 1,200 US Marines and 240 soldiers from the Japan Ground Self-Defense Force’s Western Army Infantry Regiment.
Called “Exercise Iron Fist,” the training was part of a nine-year-old program, but this year’s event was especially significant considering current tensions in the East China Sea.
The Diaoyutai Islands have been at the center of growing political hostilities as a result of conflicting sovereignty claims by Japan, China and Taiwan.
The New York Times said that while US military officials said that “Iron Fist” had nothing to do with the Diaoyutai situation, Marine Commander Colonel John O’Neal said the Japanese team had “a new sense of purpose.”
“There are certainly current events that have added emphasis to this exercise,” O’Neal said. “Is there a heightened awareness? Yes.”
The Taipei Times recently reported that US Pacific Fleet Captain James Fanell believed that China was training its forces for a “short, sharp” war with Japan in the East China Sea.
US Army Chief of Staff General Ray Odierno was in Beijing last weekend trying to improve US-China military relations.
“This is really about expanding cooperation and managing competition,” he said. “We want to expand our cooperation at a very high level, deepen our cooperation in areas of mutual interest and then manage our differences constructively.”
“Annual training exercises with the Japanese help both of our militaries develop capabilities and skill sets essential to providing increased international security and improved prosperity,” O’Neal said.
He said that closely integrated exercises made the US and Japanese forces more familiar with each other’s capabilities and better able to respond “quickly and effectively” to future crises.
The exercises featured amphibious landing operations, fire support and forward observation, amphibious reconnaissance and advanced marksmanship.
“We have upped the ante with regards to the complexity of what we are doing,” O’Neal said.
Based in Camp Pendleton, the joint exercises stretched out across southern California.
The New York Times said the drills were the largest and most involved operation of their kind so far.
“The exercise included drones and the kinds of air support that would be needed to protect Japanese and American troops retaking an island,” the newspaper said.
Over the past months, there have also been reports of Chinese military exercises involving landings on small islands.
“There has been enough Chinese activity to justify this exercise,” a Washington-based military analyst said.
People can preregister to receive their NT$10,000 (US$325) cash distributed from the central government on Nov. 5 after President William Lai (賴清德) yesterday signed the Special Budget for Strengthening Economic, Social and National Security Resilience, the Executive Yuan told a news conference last night. The special budget, passed by the Legislative Yuan on Friday last week with a cash handout budget of NT$236 billion, was officially submitted to the Executive Yuan and the Presidential Office yesterday afternoon. People can register through the official Web site at https://10000.gov.tw to have the funds deposited into their bank accounts, withdraw the funds at automated teller
PEACE AND STABILITY: Maintaining the cross-strait ‘status quo’ has long been the government’s position, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said Taiwan is committed to maintaining the cross-strait “status quo” and seeks no escalation of tensions, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) said yesterday, rebutting a Time magazine opinion piece that described President William Lai (賴清德) as a “reckless leader.” The article, titled “The US Must Beware of Taiwan’s Reckless Leader,” was written by Lyle Goldstein, director of the Asia Program at the Washington-based Defense Priorities think tank. Goldstein wrote that Taiwan is “the world’s most dangerous flashpoint” amid ongoing conflicts in the Middle East and Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. He said that the situation in the Taiwan Strait has become less stable
CONCESSION: A Shin Kong official said that the firm was ‘willing to contribute’ to the nation, as the move would enable Nvidia Crop to build its headquarters in Taiwan Shin Kong Life Insurance Co (新光人壽) yesterday said it would relinquish land-use rights, or known as surface rights, for two plots in Taipei’s Beitou District (北投), paving the way for Nvidia Corp to expand its office footprint in Taiwan. The insurer said it made the decision “in the interest of the nation’s greater good” and would not seek compensation from taxpayers for potential future losses, calling the move a gesture to resolve a months-long impasse among the insurer, the Taipei City Government and the US chip giant. “The decision was made on the condition that the Taipei City Government reimburses the related
FRESH LOOK: A committee would gather expert and public input on the themes and visual motifs that would appear on the notes, the central bank governor said The central bank has launched a comprehensive redesign of New Taiwan dollar banknotes to enhance anti-counterfeiting measures, improve accessibility and align the bills with global sustainability standards, Governor Yang Chin-long (楊金龍) told a meeting of the legislature’s Finance Committee yesterday. The overhaul would affect all five denominations — NT$100, NT$200, NT$500, NT$1,000 and NT$2,000 notes — but not coins, Yang said. It would be the first major update to the banknotes in 24 years, as the current series, introduced in 2001, has remained in circulation amid rapid advances in printing technology and security standards. “Updating the notes is essential to safeguard the integrity
RSS