Special to WorldTribune.com

U.S. and Japanese naval forces recently joined together for a tactical simulation dealing with an emergency in the Senkaku Islands.

In the emergency scenario, a large number of ships that appear to be Chinese fishing boats sail to the islands and men posing as fishermen then go ashore. U.S. and Japanese officers used the simulation to determine the rules of engagement they would deploy in such an emergency and how to prevent it from escalating into an armed conflict, Japan’s Yomiuri Shimbun reported.

The naval drill involved senior officers of the U.S. Navy Seventh Fleet who visited the Self-Defense Fleet headquarters of Japan’s Maritime Self-Defense Force (MSDF) in Yokosuka, Kanagawa Prefecture.

It marked the first time the U.S. Navy directly joined an MSDF tactical simulation.

“The United States has finally become serious about situations regarding the Senkakus,” said an MSDF senior officer.

U.S.-Japan cooperation will continue this autumn as an MSDF destroyer is scheduled to accompany a U.S. aircraft carrier on a long-term cruise for navigational training.

The MSDF’s role in such operations has changed since Japan’s new security laws were enacted. Japanese and U.S. forces can defend each others’ vessels by using weapons during joint exercises, and by undertaking warning and surveillance activities.

In a “situation threatening Japan’s survival,” it is assumed that MSDF ships would defend a U.S. aircraft carrier based on the right of collective self-defense.

Japanese Self-Defense Forces (SDF) Chief of Joint Staff Adm. Katsutoshi Kawano visited Washington in July and met with U.S. Vice President Joe Biden, who expressed concern over the security environment in East Asia, including China and North Korea, and told Kawano that he had taken an interest in Japan’s security legislation.

“A U.S. vice president has never been so talkative during a meeting with an important figure from Japan,” said an official of the Japanese Embassy in Washington.

Former head of the SDF’s Joint Staff Adm. Takashi Saito commented that “the United States will help Japan defend its remote islands, and we will help the United States by exercising the right of collective self-defense, which is a well-balanced [relationship].”

The new security guidelines state that Japan and the U.S. will “plan” and “update” joint operations, but sources say U.S. forces remain reluctant about drafting a joint operation plan related to the Senkakus.

“The United States seems to feel that drafting an operation plan for a possible military contingency could provoke China,” a senior SDF official said.

The commander of the U.S. Pacific Command reportedly had said that he would “welcome” SDF patrols in the South China Sea, where China has been increasing its maritime activities.

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