Destroyers, fighter jets and 34,000 troops are to take part in a huge exercise aimed at bolstering Japan’s ability to protect its remote islands amid a territorial spat with China.
The war games, which will include live-firing, come as Tokyo steps up its global PR campaign by posting videos it hopes will swing world opinion behind its claims to two archipelagos that are the focus of disputes with Beijing and Seoul.
The air-sea-land drill from Nov. 1 to Nov. 18 will involve amphibious landings on the uninhabited atoll of Okidaitojima, 400km southeast of the main Okinawan island, a defense ministry official said.
Live-fire exercises involving destroyers and F-2 fighter jets will also be conducted, he said.
The island is a considerable distance from the Japanese-controlled Senkaku Islands, which Taiwan calls the Diaoyutai Islands (釣魚台) and which Taiwan and China also claim.
However, Japanese Defense Force leaders are considering deploying short-range land-to-sea missiles on the island of Ishigaki, which lies 150km from the disputed islands, the Asahi and Fuji TV networks said. Both broadcasters said there were no plans to fire weaponry there.
Chinese state-owned ships have sparred with Japanese coastguard boats repeatedly in waters around the Senkakus since Tokyo nationalized three of the islands in the chain.
In its latest volley, the Japanese Ministry of Foreign Affairs has produced two 90-second videos setting out its case for ownership of the two disputed island groups, posting them to its YouTube site.
Both videos are currently only in Japanese, but the ministry plans to provide versions in 10 other tongues — all six official UN languages, which include Chinese, as well as Portuguese, German, Korean and Italian.
“We are also preparing three other short movies on the Senkaku Islands and one on the issue of Takeshima,” a ministry official said, referring to a pair of islets that South Korea controls as Dokdo.
“The new ones will be just 30 seconds in length and we hope they will be watched by smartphone and tablet users,” he added.
The ministry has earmarked ￥120 million (US$1.2 million) this fiscal year for the films and creating a YouTube channel, he said.
“It is important that the international community obtain correct understanding over situations surrounding Japan including territories,” he said.
Beijing and Seoul reacted angrily to the move, with Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokeswoman Hua Chunying (華春瑩) repeating the assertion that the South China Sea islands belong to Beijing.
South Korea lodged a formal protest over the video, calling in a senior Japanese embassy official to register disapproval on Wednesday.
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