Japan-US drills threaten regional peace, stability

Japanese and US troops on Monday began one of their largest joint military exercises, a move experts warn could heighten regional tensions and undermine peace and stability in Asia.

Running through Oct 29, the "Keen Sword 27" exercises span multiple operational domains, with training taking place across Japan, including Okinawa, Kyushu, and Hokkaido.

Japan's Type 25 surface-to-ship missile will participate in the exercises for the first time since it was deployed in March. With a reported range of about 1,000 kilometers, the missile is among Japan's newly developed long-range strike systems, enabling it to target vessels and potentially reach targets far beyond Japanese territory.

About 45,000 Japanese troops and 12,000 US service members are participating in the biennial military drill.

Seven other nations are also taking part in some elements of the exercises, five of them — France, Germany, the Netherlands, New Zealand, and the Philippines — for the first time, according to Japan's Joint Staff.

Japanese citizens staged a rally in front of the National Diet in Tokyo on Monday evening, opposing Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi's government's military buildup and push for constitutional revision, and calling for the preservation of peace.

Protesters chanted slogans, including "Stop blindly following the United States", "Stop deploying long-range missiles", and "Takaichi must step down immediately".

According to organizers, about 10,000 people took part in the rally, while more than 300 solidarity events were held across Japan.

This year's exercises come at a sensitive time, just weeks after the arrest of a US Marine in connection with the murder and robbery of a Japanese woman in Okinawa, where thousands of US troops are stationed.

The case has renewed anti-US base sentiment in Okinawa, where residents have long complained about noise, pollution and crime related to US bases. The majority of about 50,000 US troops in Japan under the bilateral security pact are on the small but strategically important southern island.

Liu Shuliang, an associate researcher at the Tianjin Academy of Social Sciences, said this year's military exercises featured several new developments; both the number of participants and the scale of the exercises reached record highs, demonstrating their offensive nature and combat readiness.

Heightening risk

"Such large-scale, combat-oriented joint military exercises risk further destabilizing the regional security environment and heightening the risk of an arms race and military confrontation in the region," he said.

Chen Hong, director of the Asia-Pacific Studies Center at East China Normal University, said these forward deployments by Japan and the US extend their joint strike and area-denial capabilities to the front lines of a potential conflict in the Taiwan Strait.

Such deployments pose a serious threat to stability across the Taiwan Strait and heighten regional security risks, he said.

As Japan deepens its strategic alignment with the US and amplifies claims of so-called security threats to justify strengthening the US-led regional military network, the risk of misperceptions and miscalculations in the region is likely to grow, Chen said.

He highlighted that the waters around Okinawa and Japan's southwestern islands are important international shipping routes.

"Frequent large-scale, combat-oriented exercises by the US and Japan in the area, coupled with the deployment of long-range strike weapons, risk heightening uncertainty and maritime security risks, potentially disrupting regional industrial and supply chains," Chen added.

Furthermore, persistent regional security tensions could further undermine the investment climate, expose regional economic cooperation to greater disruption from geopolitical rivalries and slow the pace of regional economic integration, he said.

Liu from Tianjin said Japan should draw profound lessons from the devastation inflicted on Asian nations by its modern-era militarist aggression and expansion.

Japan and the US should abandon their Cold War mentality and confrontational mindset, and immediately cease provocative military actions, including the deployment of long-range strike weapons and large-scale, combat-oriented joint exercises, Liu added.

Agencies contributed to this story.