U.S. and Japan identify China as hypothetical enemy during trainings
U.S. President Joe Biden and Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida (photo: flickr.com/whitehouse)
The United States and Japan named China as a hypothetical enemy for the first time during their joint command and control exercises, reports Kyodo agency.
The military computer simulation exercise, which began on February 1 and will last until Thursday, envisions an emergency in Taiwan. Previously, the enemy's name was used as a conventional one, but this time, according to government sources, China was chosen as the enemy.
In addition, previously, the exercise used maps that differed slightly from the topography of real countries to avoid a negative reaction in the event of a leak, but this time unchanged versions were used.
It is believed that the Japanese Ministry of Defense has classified this scenario as a special secret. At the same time, Kyodo reminded that the Chief of the Joint Staff of the Ministry of Defense of Japan, Yoshihide Yoshida, said at a press conference on January 25 that the exercises "do not involve a particular country or region."
"The move reflects a heightened sense of urgency as concerns grow that China may take action against Taiwan in a few years amid rising geopolitical tensions," Kyodo added.
Threat of China's attack on Taiwan
China views Taiwan as a separatist province and is trying to regain full control over it. However, Taiwan considers itself an independent country with a separate economy and democratically elected leaders.
According to CIA Director William Burns, U.S. intelligence has information that Chinese leader Xi Jinping is preparing the army to invade Taiwan by 2027.
Bloomberg analysts estimate that a Chinese military invasion of Taiwan would cost the global economy $10 trillion. This corresponds to about 10% of global GDP, which dwarfs the impact of Russia's war against Ukraine, the COVID pandemic, and the global financial crisis.
