Japanese drills should raise red flags for China
0 Comment(s)
Print
E-mail
People's Daily, November 22, 2011
On Nov. 10, the Japanese Self-Defense Force carried out a large-scale island defense drill in the southwestern part of Japan, including Kyushu, Okinawa and other places. The drill was Japan's first large-scale military drill against China since the Yoshihiko Noda cabinet came into power. It was also another military attempt of containing China by the Japanese government after a series of small diplomatic attempts.
The main purpose of this drill was to test the mobility of Japan's elite ground force in long-distance cross-regional combat. During the drill, the Japanese Self-Defense Force quickly transported the battle force to the combat area by all means to have the initiative.
This drill carried out by the Japanese Self-Defense Force was a practical implementation of the guideline of "constructing a mobile defense force that possesses fast reaction ability, mobility, flexibility, sustainability and versatility, adapts to the development of military technologies and is supported by high-level military and information technologies" prescribed by the National Defense Program Outline of 2010.
The second unique point of the drill was that civil forces participated in the drill. During the drill, the Japan Self-Defense Forces mobilized and organized civil high-speed cargo passenger ferryboats to carry out the force projection mission.
Third, 5,400 soldiers and officers of the Japanese Self-Defense Force, 1,500 tanks and armed vehicles and 30 warplanes participated in this military drill. The drill integrated all the ground, maritime and air forces of Japan with an aim of protecting the islands in the southwestern region, including the contested Diaoyu Island and its adjacent islands, tp which China has a claim. The drill is aimed testing the Japanese forces' island defense ability in an assumed situation.
The Japanese self-defense force's exercise has fully echoed an overhaul to Japan's defense policy made in 2010. Unlike the previous three defense plan outlines, the "2010 National Defense Plan Outline" has regarded China as a threat and defined China's normal military activities as signs of "threats." Therefore, Japan's self-defense forces have specifically shifted the focus of its defense to the waters near southwestern Japan.
The military exercise has reflected a new idea in the construction of Japanese self-defense forces. Japan's new defense definition has no longer been limited to defense, changed the requirements for the self-defense forces to "deploy the minimum military capacity at basic military posts." Furthermore, the new "National Defense Plan Outline" has focused on "actual combat skills" and has not ruled out the possibility of launching preemptive strikes. Undoubtedly, this is another risky move on the part of the Japanese government, and China should be alert.
Go to Forum >>0 Comment(s)