3 days ago
SDF request led to nuclear threat scenario in Japan-U.S. exercise
TOKYO - The Japanese Self-Defense Forces strongly urged the U.S. military during a joint command post exercise last year to mirror any nuclear threat made by China with one of its own, government sources said Sunday.
The United States ultimately complied with the request in the simulation exercise that envisioned a potential invasion of Taiwan by Beijing, raising concerns that Japan's push to invoke nuclear deterrence could exacerbate tensions between the United States and China.
The request, the first of its kind in a Japan-U.S. joint exercise, was based on Japan's policy of reliance on the U.S. nuclear umbrella for protection, suggesting that both Japanese government and SDF officials see Chinese nuclear saber-rattling as a real possibility in the event of a Taiwan contingency.
The Defense Ministry did not respond to a request for comment.
Japan and the United States named China as a hypothetical enemy for the first time in the computer simulation exercise "Keen Edge" in February last year.
During the exercise, the U.S. Navy set up temporary bases in the Nansei island chain in the Kagoshima and Okinawa prefectures in the initial stages of a Taiwan contingency, with the SDF providing logistical support.
Later in the drill, the scenario assumed that China hinted at the use of nuclear weapons against the United States and Japan, but the U.S. side initially did not take any measures due to concerns over escalating the situation further, according to the sources.
Adm. John Aquilino, commander of the United States Indo-Pacific Command, ultimately acquiesced to repeated requests by Gen. Yoshihide Yoshida, chief of the SDF Joint Staff, for "the United States to counter with nuclear threats to defend Japan." Neither Beijing nor Washington used nuclear arms in the simulation.
The two countries announced last December their first guidelines on "extended deterrence," often described as the U.S.'s commitment to using its full range of nuclear and conventional capabilities to defend Japan amid China's growing military activities and North Korea's missile and nuclear development.
