Experts say China’s stance in Indo-Pacific added realism to 5-nation naval drill

Center Senior Fellow Grant Newsham was quoted extensively in this piece by VOA News

TAIPEI, TAIWAN — Naval forces from the U.S., Australia, Canada, Germany and Japan have concluded a 10-day military drill in the Philippine Sea off the southern coast of Japan, with analysts saying the threat posed by China in the Indo-Pacific region has increased the importance of the military exercises.

The Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force ran the naval exercise as it has since the 1990s. Known as ANNUALEX 2021, the drill ran from November 21 to 30. According to a statement by the U.S. Navy, the five participating nations engaged in events to “enhance maritime communication skills, anti-submarine warfare operations, air warfare operations, replenishments-at-sea, cross-deck flight operations and maritime interdiction maneuvers.”

A month earlier, aircraft carriers from the U.S. as well as a Japanese ship that accommodates helicopter landings participated in an exercise in the same region, according to the Wall Street Journal.

Grant Newsham, a retired U.S. Marine colonel and a senior researcher at the Japan Forum for Strategic Studies, told VOA Mandarin that in recent years, due to the threats posed by China, the military exercise has doubled in realism.

“A total of 34 warships from the five countries conducted a 10-day exercise, demonstrating the importance of this exercise,” Newsham told VOA in a phone interview.

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