Posted on 12/31/2006 2:31:00 PM PST by Dr. Marten
TOKYO -- Japan's navy on Saturday denied a report that Japan and the United States held a drill simulating a Chinese invasion of disputed islands during recent joint naval exercises.
The U.S. and Japan sent a flotilla of warships - including the aircraft carrier USS Kitty Hawk and its battle group - off Japan's southern coast for a week of war games in mid-November called Annualex 18G, their largest joint naval exercise of the year.
One of the drills addressed a hypothetical Chinese military invasion of a group of uninhabited islands called Diaoyu in Chinese and Senkaku in Japanese that both Tokyo and Beijing claim, Kyodo News agency said, citing unidentified Japanese and U.S. officials.
The drill was carried out using colors rather than names to designate the countries involved to avoid giving the impression that a specific country was being viewed as the enemy, Kyodo reported. China was designated as "orange", Japan as "blue" and the U.S. as "green," it said.
Maritime Self Defense Forces spokesman Hiromitsu Hanada denied the report, saying the Annualex exercises were not directed at defending against any specific country or threat.
Phones rang unanswered at offices of U.S. Forces Japan and U.S. Naval Forces Japan on Saturday.
Japan claimed the islands in 1895 when it colonized Taiwan, but the United States controlled them after World War II and returned them to Japan in 1972. Taiwan also claims the islands as its territory.
Though China and Japan have vibrant economic links, they are at odds over a variety of issues including undersea gas and oil deposits and Japanese officials' visits to a Tokyo war shrine that honors executed war criminals.
Japan's Defense Agency lists China's military expansion as a top security concern in the region. Chinese defense spending has jumped by double-digit percentages since the early 1990s, and Japanese Foreign Minister Taro Aso has repeatedly called China a threat - drawing angry protests from Beijing.
Interesting development!
China - Japan Ping
We've probably been war gaming this very scenario for the past 40 years.
Puts the U.S. and the Japanese in a maritime logistical position in which to defend Taiwan. Oh the Chinese will start crying now.
Bust out the Mongolian Barbeque.
A realistic assessment of potential future combat.
North Korea COULD send up a few missiles, but in a more probable context, the Chinese would be crouched behind such a move, which could not occur without the full support and concurrence of Beijing.
Until fairly recently the unspoken aggressor was a differrent nation.
Is Japan still under military restrictions, or has that been lifted?
For decades we also war gamed for a U.S./Japanese-Soviet/Russian confrontation over the Kuril Islands.
Yeah, that makes sense - NK would be afraid to act alone.
There really are no "restrictions" - just lip service and empty terminology, other than Japan not having nuclear weapons.
The Japanese now have one of the most powerful militaries in the world, and arguably the second-best navy in the world.
Hmmmmmmm
And Taiwan also claims them.
Things get pretty weird as the Republic of China still officially claims to be the legitimate government of all of China (saw someone joking about this on a thread last week, not realizing it was actually true) - oddly enough, this pisses off the PRC LESS than if Taiwan declared independence.
But in the case of some disputed Islands with Japan both the ROC and PRC share the same diplomatic position and claims.
Hmmm... I think maybe it's time the restrictions on nukes are lifted.
There's nothing external to Japan limiting nukes other than Japan being a signatory to the NPT.
If they want to wargame something a little more realistic, wargame the Chinese invasion of Siberia.
True.
BTW,
Can you spell out for me the unique geologic features of the HENGCHUN area of the South of Taiwan?
I understand they are quite different from the rest of Taiwan.
Ah, I see, thanks for the info! :)
And China invading the USA through Mexico; their Clinton donated port in Long Beach; their bases on both ends of the Panama Canal . . .
Don't know much about it other than what you'd get from putting in Hangchung and geology in Google.
Taiwan as a whole will be reunified (geologically) with China whether it likes it or not in a few tens of millions of years. -)
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