US-Japan begin naval exercise, 'Resilient Shield', considering threats from

Tokyo: Five-day war exercises have started between the defence forces of the United States and Japan. The United States informed that these exercises are being held because of the perceived threat from China and North Korea. China sent its warships to the Senkaku Islands region only a few hours before starting these exercises. The international media is pointing out that these exercises began after that.

The US seventh naval fleet, headquartered in Japan, and the Japanese navy started the annual Resilient Shield 2021 exercises. 77 command centres of the United States and Japan are participating in these five-day long exercises. The US navy clarified that the practices were necessary to counter the ballistic missiles of the enemy. Simultaneously, a senior US navy official said that these exercises would help increase the coordination and communication between the US and Japanese navies.

The Chinese patrol vessels staged an intrusion in the marine limits of the Japanese Senkaku Islands only a few hours before the exercises. The Chinese patrol vessels intruded into the Senkaku Islands marine region successively on Saturday and Sunday. The Japanese coast guard drove the Chinese patrol vessels away with prompt action. But China has intruded into the Japanese territory for the third time in the last ten days. China claims that the Senkaku Island group is a part of China.

China is claiming its rights not only on the Senkaku Islands group but also on Taiwan, Spratly, Paracel and Scarboro islands in the South China Sea. Saying that Taiwan is an integral part of China, it has increased the intrusion in the Taiwanese airspace. China intruded in the Taiwanese airspace five times in the last ten days. This has resulted in tension being heightened in the region.

Meanwhile, countries like France and the United Kingdom have announced that they would be sending their warships to counter Chinese aggression in the South China Sea. China is fuming with the announcement and is threatening that the western countries should not interfere in the Chinese marine region.