Japan's Self-Defense Forces (SDF) personnel reportedly carried out the first joint exercise with the U.S. military on Monday under a new security bill which took effect in March.
The exercises are part of Keen Sword, a joint drill that took place off Ukibaru Island on October 30, involving around 25,000 SDF members and 11,000 U.S. military personnel, Kyodo News reported.
This is the first such exercise under Japan's new security bill, which allows the SDF to protect its allies even if there is no direct threat to Japan or its people, a doctrine also known as "collective self-defense."
"Japan has expanded its military drills from inshore areas to wider areas. And it tried to make great fanfare of the joint exercise as preparations for more military drills," Song Zhongping, a Beijing-based military commentator, told the Global Times on Monday.
Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, who pushed the new bill, is threatening regional peace, said Song, adding that China may take diplomatic and military measures in response.
While the SDF has carried out exercises for UN peacekeeping operations under the legislation, it had not conducted any to help the U.S. military in the event of an incident in areas other than those "surrounding Japan," Kyodo News reported.
