Special to WorldTribune.com

By Willy Lam, East-Asia-Intel.com

A series of naval exercises involving troops from China, Russia, South Korea, the U.S. and the Philippines are likely to significantly raise tensions in the Asia-Pacific.

The largest China-Russian naval war game since 2005 is scheduled to start next week in waters very close to South Korea and Japan.

While a spokesman for the People’s Liberation Army in Beijing said the drill was a “normal arrangement” that had been planned last year, reactions in Tokyo and Seoul have been heated.

Tokyo, which has territorial disputes with both China and Russia, see the war game as at the very least stepped-up psychological warfare.

Sino-Japanese ties were further strained by reports earlier this week that hardline governor of Tokyo, Shintaro Ishihara, indicated during a visit to Washington that his municipal government intended to buy the disputed Senkaku islets — known as the Diaoyu in China — which have been owned by a Japanese clan.

And on April 18, Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda also raised tensions with Beijing by saying the Japanese government might be interested in taking possession of the small archipelago.

Read complete article.

  People’s Liberation Army, psychological warfare, Senkaku islets, Shintaro Ishihara, Tensions in Asia-Pacific give rise to multiple war games, Yoshihiko Noda