The US and Japan have conducted joint air exercises after China and Russia patrolled

Japan said on Thursday it had carried out joint air exercises with the United States in a show of force, days after Chinese-Russian patrols in the region and diplomatic spats between Tokyo and Beijing.

The Japanese Joint Chiefs of Staff said on Wednesday the exercise with the US Air Force was conducted in an “increasingly serious security environment around our country”.

Tokyo said on Wednesday that two Russian Tu-95 nuclear-capable bombers had flown a day earlier from the Sea of ​​Japan to rendezvous with two Chinese H-6 bombers in the East China Sea, then made a joint flight around the country.

Japan said it shot down fighter jets in response.

Prime Minister Sane Takaichi angered Beijing last month by suggesting Japan would intervene with military force in any Chinese attack on Taiwan.

A statement by Japan’s chief of staff on Thursday said: “We reaffirmed the determination of Japan and the United States not to use force to unilaterally change the status quo, as well as the readiness of the Self-Defense Forces and the US military.”

In a separate statement it said the “tactical exercise” involved two US B52 bombers, three Japanese F-35 fighter jets and three Japanese F-15s in the Sea of ​​Japan.

The joint exercise comes after the United States first criticized Beijing on Wednesday after Chinese military aircraft locked radar on Japanese jets on Saturday.

J-15 jets from China’s Liaoning aircraft carrier twice locked radar on Japanese aircraft in international waters near Okinawa, according to Japan, which scrambled jets in response.

“China’s actions are not conducive to regional peace and stability,” a US State Department spokesman told AFP on Wednesday.

“The US-Japan alliance is stronger and more united than ever. Our commitment to our ally Japan is unwavering, and we remain in close contact on this and other issues.”

Fighter jets use their radar to identify targets for fire control and for search and rescue operations.

Tokyo also summoned Beijing’s ambassador after the radar incident, with the two countries offering differing accounts of events.

Japan has said it has grounded its F-15 jets because of concerns about potential “airspace violations”.

Foreign Ministry spokesman Guo Jiakun accused Japan on Wednesday of sending the planes to “intrude into Chinese training areas without permission, conduct close espionage and harassment, create a tense situation and maliciously escalate the situation.”

Takaichi’s comments about Taiwan’s intervention in any emergency angered Beijing as China claims the self-ruled island as its own and has not ruled out seizing it by force.

Tokyo was forced to deny a Wall Street Journal report that US President Donald Trump had advised Takachi not to provoke China over Taiwan’s sovereignty.

But Tokyo is clearly frustrated by the lack of public support from top officials in Washington and has urged the US to be more vocal, the Financial Times reported on Sunday.

– ‘regrettable’ –

NATO chief Mark Rutte said on Wednesday that the radar incident and the joint China-Russia patrol were “regrettable”, Japan’s Defense Minister Shinjiro Koizumi said on X.

The statement came after a 15-minute video conference between Rutte and Koizumi, the Defense Ministry said in a statement.

Rutte “affirmed that security in the Indo-Pacific and Euro-Atlantic regions is absolutely inseparable”, Koizumi said.

South Korea said on Tuesday that Russian and Chinese fighter jets also entered its air defense zone, with Seoul also deploying fighter jets that day.

Beijing confirmed later on Tuesday that it had held drills with Russia’s military under an “annual cooperation plan”.

Moscow also described it as a routine exercise, saying it lasted eight hours and that some foreign fighter jets followed the Russian and Chinese planes.

bur-aph-stu/fox