Experts see rival air and naval exercises this month across the Indo-Pacific region, involving Western-oriented allies on the one hand and Russia and China on the other, as evidence of mounting strategic competition and the risk of conflict in the region.
The Rim of the Pacific (RIMPAC) exercise, led by the United States and involving 29 countries, will enter its second phase on Monday in the waters around Hawaii. Germany, France and Spain are among the countries joining RIMPAC's 18 core members in a joint air exercise.
The drill will also include the sinking of the 40,000-ton amphibious landing ship Tarawa, which is believed to be a stand-in for one of China's large amphibious landing ships and aircraft carriers.
The RIMPAC exercise comes days after a Sino-Russian joint military drill concluded Wednesday in Zhanjiang, on China's southern coast. Seven Chinese and Russian warships participated, including China's missile destroyer, a 20,000-ton supply ship and three Russian stealth warships.
At the same time, China's Shandong aircraft carrier formation, with three missile destroyers and frigates, is conducting exercises in the Philippine Sea.
And next month, India will host its first multinational air exercise, Tarang Shakti-2024, which is likely to see the participation of 10 countries.
Christopher Lamont, a professor at Tokyo International University and dean of E-Track International Relations, said the joint China-Russia exercise adds heightened tension to Japan's security environment, particularly in the context of closer Moscow-Pyongyang ties following Russia's invasion of Ukraine.
Stronger Japan-Europe ties
Lamont said the participation of Japan, a RIMPAC member, in exercises with European partners is symbolic in the sense that Spain, France and Germany have limited capacity to project naval power into this region.
But, he said, it underlines "a strengthening of both economic and security ties between Tokyo and European capitals that has picked up pace since 2022."
In yet another naval exercise this week, a Taiwanese coast guard patrol vessel and a Japanese aircraft-carrying coast guard patrol vessel carried out a joint drill to the south of Japan's Boso Peninsula, Chiba prefecture, and in waters near Izu Oshima.
It is reportedly the first joint maritime exercise between the two coast guards since Japan and Taiwan cut formal diplomatic ties in 1972. Analysts see the drill as a response to China's assertive activities in the East China and South China seas.
In a regular briefing on Friday, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Lin Jian strongly deplored the maritime exercise and lodged a protest with Japan.
"We urge Japan to ... correct the wrongdoing at once, refrain from conniving at or supporting 'Taiwan independence' separatist forces in any form, stay prudent on issues related to the East and South China seas, and stop disrupting cross-strait peace and stability and China-Japan relations," he said.
Eric Huang, a lecturer at Tamkang University in Taiwan, said the series of joint exercises illustrates "the intensifying strategic competition, increasing regional security uncertainty, and risks of conflict" in the Asia-Pacific.
Global tensions over the conflicts in Ukraine and Gaza, and mounting Chinese pressure on Taiwan, "underscore the urgent need for synchronized national and regional defense strategies, alongside international cooperation in the Asia-Pacific," added Huang, a former spokesperson and deputy director of the International Affairs Department of Taiwan's opposition Nationalist Party.
"Regional democratic allies like South Korea, Australia, India and Taiwan must assertively balance national security with regional stability, navigating the intricacies of great power competition through decisive dialogue and strategic cooperation to ensure enduring regional stability and democratic way of lives," Huang said.
Eyes on Moscow-Beijing relationship
Marcin Mateusz Jerzewski, director of the Taiwan office of the European Center for Values and Security Policy, said the security environment is increasingly severe in the Euro-Atlantic and Indo-Pacific theaters, in large part because of the growing confluence of strategic interests between Moscow and Beijing.
"With the largest kinetic conflict since World War II happening in their backyard, European countries are increasingly concerned about China's tacit support for Russian atrocities in Ukraine," he said.
Elio Calcagno, the defense program researcher at the Italian Institute of International Affairs, told VOA that European countries are bolstering efforts to demonstrate their commitment to security in the Indo-Pacific through more frequent and substantial deployments.
Calcagno said the European participants hope to deepen ties with regional partners through the drills while "demonstrating to the U.S. that they are able to contribute to Washington's most immediate strategic concerns, which regard Chinese posturing in the region."
At the same time, he said, they are seeking to show "like-minded partners in the Indo-Pacific that European countries can act independently from the U.S. to a certain extent."
Adrianna Zhang contributed to this report.
