Japan’s MSDF, US Navy in joint South China Sea drill

Japan’s Maritime Self-Defense Force (MSDF) is holding a joint drill with the US Navy in the South China Sea, it has been learned.

The area for the joint exercise is away from the Spratly Islands, over which China claims sovereignty, but the United States and Japan aim to restrain China by promoting their close cooperation, according to observers.

The joint drill, which started on Wednesday, includes the MSDF destroyer Fuyuzuki, the US Navy’s nuclear-powered aircraft carrier USS Theodore Roosevelt and others, the sources said. The drill will continue for several days in the South China Sea area and include the transportation of crew members in helicopters and communication training exercises.

All the vessels in the drill participated in the joint military drill undertaken by Japan, the United States and India in the Indian Ocean in mid-October.

There are no plans for the vessels to cruise near the artificial islands built by China that were patrolled by a US Navy Aegis-equipped destroyer, according to the sources.

A defense ministry official explained, “It is an ordinary drill and unrelated to the US Navy’s patrolling activities there.”