Tashkent, Uzbekistan (UzDaily.com) – American-Japanese maneuvers Yama Sakura 79 starts at a military base in the Japanese city of Kumamoto.

The purpose of the exercise is to test the potential of commanding the forces of dispersed missions using the concept of combat, simulator and theoretical training. They will last until 15 December 2020.

Analyzing the American-Japanese exercises Yama Sakura 79, experts highlight a number of points.

1. The joint US-Japanese exercise Yama Sakura 79 is conducted mainly to prepare for a possible conflict with China, but the maneuvers may also contain scenarios related to Russia. The main goal of the United States and Japan is to contain the PRC. For Russia, these maneuvers are not a matter of concern, as for China.

2. Within the framework of containing Beijing, Washington is betting on Tokyo, since the United States does not keep pace with its Chinese counterparts in the arms race with China. Thus, China is building up its forces at a fairly high rate, while the Americans find it difficult to redistribute their forces quickly enough, transferring them to the western part of the Pacific Ocean. Based on this, Washington has recently stepped up cooperation with Tokyo in this area.

3. The United States wants to force Japanese colleagues to invest more in military construction and modernization. The Americans are counting on a more active role for Japan. In this regard, Washington will continue to put pressure on Tokyo. However, Japan is more inclined to believe that the country should only defend the Japanese islands, using US logistical support.

Overall, the US-Japan exercise Yama Sakura 79 demonstrates the strength of the US-Japan alliance to assess the capabilities and interoperability required to fulfill the obligations of the mutual security treaty. In turn, these maneuvers cause concern for the PRC and, to a lesser extent, the Russian Federation.