JAPAN'S Self-Defense Forces and the United States military are conducting an eight-day-long joint command post computer-simulated exercise called 'Keen Edge.' Despite Japan's earlier claims that the exercise 'does not suppose any specific area or country,' Japanese news agency Kyodo News, citing 'government sources,' reported on January 4 that China was named as a hypothetical enemy for the first time in the exercise, with a presumed scenario of military conflict across the Taiwan Strait.

This marks a significant escalation from Japan's provocative statements, stating 'a Taiwan emergency is a Japanese emergency, and therefore an emergency for the Japan-US alliance,' to actual joint actions by Japan and the US, which is very serious.