Japanese troops drill on island seen as vulnerable to China

On Sunday, Japanese marines in amphibious assault vehicles attacked an island beach near the East China Sea in a simulated raid to expel invaders from territory that Tokyo fears is vulnerable to Chinese attack.

The drill on the southwest island of Tokunoshima capped an 11-day series of exercises nationwide dubbed 05JX, meant to demonstrate the readiness of Japan’s ground, sea, and air forces to defend its territory and infrastructure, including nuclear power plants.

“The goal of JX is to show that if there is an emergency situation resulting from an attack, that we are able respond in a joint way,” General Yoshihide Yoshida, chief of staff of the Self-Defence Forces’ Joint Staff, said after observing the drill on Tokunoshima.

Ground Self-Defense Force amphibious assault vehicles launched from two anchored Maritime Self-Defense Force landing ships. Other troops landed in semi-inflatable rubber boats, with heavier equipment transported by military hovercraft to shore.

Unlike many of the beaches along Japan’s southwest island chain stretching towards Taiwan, the one on Tokunoshima lacks a coral reef, which would complicate military operations.

After Prime Minister Fumio Kishida presented the country’s largest military buildup since World War II in December, with a commitment to treble defence spending over five years, the scope and pace of military exercises in Japan are certain to rise in the coming years, including with US soldiers.

Kishida has warned that East Asia could be the next Ukraine, if China, emboldened by Russia’s assault on its neighbour, attacks Taiwan.

The 43.5 trillion yen ($290 billion) in planned spending will go to new weapons such as longer-range missiles as well as to increase stocks of spare parts and munitions to fight a sustained conflict.

But the yen’s sharp decline this year has forced Japan to cut back on some planned purchases, including new models of the U.S.-made Chinook helicopters that Japan’s military used in the Tokunoshima drill.

($1 = 149.6200 yen)