The US government on Friday confirmed that it conducted military exercises with Japan, but declined to comment on the scenario of the drills, which a Financial Times report said involved combating China to defend Taiwan.
US Department of Defense spokesman John Kirby made the remarks at a news conference in response to a report on Thursday by the Financial Times.
Citing two unnamed US defense officials, the report said that the US and Japan have conducted secret war games around the Diaoyutai Islands (釣魚台), known as the Senkakus in Japan, which were billed as disaster relief drills, but were intended as joint military exercises to fight China in a dispute over Taiwan.
Photo: AP
Taiwan, the US and Japan have shared military aircraft identification codes since 2017, it added.
Japan had requested that the US share with it plans to defend Taiwan, but the US Department of Defense instead opted to enhance military cooperation with Tokyo in phases, it said.
“The eventual goal was for the allies to create an integrated war plan for Taiwan,” one official was quoted as saying.
Taiwanese experts said that news of the government sharing military aircraft identification codes with the US and Japan was a positive national security development.
Su Tzu-yun (蘇紫雲), an associate research fellow at the Institute of National Security and Defense Research, said that code-sharing is a necessary step before Taiwan, the US and Japan can conduct joint operations concerning the Taiwan Strait.
The codes are used by identification friend or foe (IFF) systems to identify aircraft, which increases engagement speed, he said.
“There were reports that Taiwan and the US are sharing the codes, so it makes sense that there is a trilateral arrangement,” he added.
The US is increasingly making public the advisers and activities of its security cooperation brigade in Taiwan, and broadening its exchanges in tactics, operations and strategy with the nation’s forces, he said.
Trilateral military cooperation must be allowed to develop at its own pace, and the process should not be rushed, he added.
The three countries had an understanding to share IFF codes, which is an important import breakthrough in relations, a source familiar with the matter said.
Sharing the codes means that Taiwan does not have to treat US military airplanes as unidentified aircraft in the Taipei Flight Information Region, which boosts flight safety and military efficiency, and conserves wear and tear on fighter jets, they said.
Erich Shih (施孝瑋), editor-in-chief of the Military and Aviation News Web site, said the arrangement would allow Taiwan to identify friendly US and Japanese aircraft.
If the US and Japanese aircraft were unknown, the military would have to intercept them with fighters or other air defense assets, he said.
The Air Force Command Headquarters said it had no knowledge of the article.
Additional reporting by CNA
‘DENIAL DEFENSE’: The US would increase its military presence with uncrewed ships, and submarines, while boosting defense in the Indo-Pacific, a Pete Hegseth memo said The US is reorienting its military strategy to focus primarily on deterring a potential Chinese invasion of Taiwan, a memo signed by US Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth showed. The memo also called on Taiwan to increase its defense spending. The document, known as the “Interim National Defense Strategic Guidance,” was distributed this month and detailed the national defense plans of US President Donald Trump’s administration, an article in the Washington Post said on Saturday. It outlines how the US can prepare for a potential war with China and defend itself from threats in the “near abroad,” including Greenland and the Panama
The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) is maintaining close ties with Beijing, the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) said yesterday, hours after a new round of Chinese military drills in the Taiwan Strait began. Political parties in a democracy have a responsibility to be loyal to the nation and defend its sovereignty, DPP spokesman Justin Wu (吳崢) told a news conference in Taipei. His comments came hours after Beijing announced via Chinese state media that the Chinese People’s Liberation Army’s Eastern Theater Command was holding large-scale drills simulating a multi-pronged attack on Taiwan. Contrary to the KMT’s claims that it is staunchly anti-communist, KMT Deputy
RESPONSE: The government would investigate incidents of Taiwanese entertainers in China promoting CCP propaganda online in contravention of the law, the source said Taiwanese entertainers living in China who are found to have contravened cross-strait regulations or collaborated with the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) could be subject to fines, a source said on Sunday. Several Taiwanese entertainers have posted on the social media platform Sina Weibo saying that Taiwan “must be returned” to China, and sharing news articles from Chinese state media. In response, the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) has asked the Ministry of Culture to investigate whether the entertainers had contravened any laws, and asked for them to be questioned upon their return to Taiwan, an official familiar with the matter said. To curb repeated
Myanmar has turned down an offer of assistance from Taiwanese search-and-rescue teams after a magnitude 7.7 earthquake struck the nation on Friday last week, saying other international aid is sufficient, the National Fire Agency said yesterday. More than 1,700 have been killed and 3,400 injured in the quake that struck near the central Myanmar city of Mandalay early on Friday afternoon, followed minutes later by a magnitude 6.7 aftershock. Worldwide, 13 international search-and-rescue teams have been deployed, with another 13 teams mobilizing, the agency said. Taiwan’s search-and-rescue teams were on standby, but have since been told to stand down, as