U.S. wades into China-Japan confrontation with tough talk, B-52 flights

SEOUL, South Korea — Nuclear-capable U.S. B-52 heavy bombers took to the skies over the Sea of Japan with an escort of Japanese F-35 and F-15 fighter jets Thursday, two days after Washington verbally sided with Tokyo in its quickly escalating confrontation with Beijing.

The Japan-U.S. show of force followed joint aerial exercises in the region by Chinese and Russian aircraft Wednesday. South Korea and Japan separately scrambled fighters that day, although the drills took place in international airspace between South Korea and Japan, as well as east of Japan.

On Tuesday, the State Department intervened by stating its support for Japan.

Northeast Asia is on edge as heightened China-Japan tensions enter a second month, spreading from the diplomatic sphere into the economic, geopolitical, information and military domains. The dispute began with a November comment from Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi indicating that Japan would come to the defense of Taiwan in the event of a Chinese attack.    

The remark infuriated Beijing, and the pushback since has shown no sign of waning.

Flying up the escalation ladder

Ms. Takaichi, responding to a question in the Diet on Nov. 7, said a potential military contingency around Taiwan would represent an existential threat to Japan. Though she did not say it, that situation constitutionally greenlights Japanese “collective defensive” military operations.

Beijing, hypersensitive to any support for democratic Taiwan, which the communist state is intent upon one day absorbing, reacted with a well-practiced, cross-domain retaliatory spiral.

First came aggressive commentary that resurrected Beijing’s practice of “wolf warrior” diplomacy.

Next was economic action: halting Chinese tourism to Japan, banning Japanese pop acts and movies in China, and an embargo on Japanese seafood imports.

With Tokyo hanging tough, a new front was opened in the information space.

Beijing initiated an academic/media campaign questioning the sovereignty of Japan’s Ryukyu Islands, which dominate naval choke points northeast of Taiwan.

Japan responded by sending Defense Minister Shinjiro Koizumi to Yonaguni, the closest of the Ryukyu islands to Taiwan, on Nov. 23. Mr. Koizumi inspected Japanese military bases being upgraded there. Yonaguni has also been the scene of recent drills by U.S. Marines.

Some Tokyo sources say Mr. Koizumi, 44, a photogenic and popular son of former Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi, is honing his skills in defense, in anticipation of a future premiership.

After his visit to Yonaguni, matters escalated into the military sphere.

Japan vocally protested after saying carrier-borne Chinese jets locked onto Japanese aircraft shadowing the Chinese flotilla with their target radars on Saturday.

China shot back that it had warned Japan of its carrier drills in international waters off Okinawa, the largest of the Ryukyu islands, and released what are said to be related radio conversations to state media CGTN, which broadcast them.

Though President Trump is finessing a series of wide-ranging trade deals with China, the State Department finally sided with Tokyo late Tuesday.

“China’s actions are not conducive to regional peace and stability,” a State Department spokesperson said regarding the radar lock-ons. “The U.S.-Japan alliance is stronger and more united than ever. Our commitment to our ally Japan is unwavering, and we are in close contact on this and other issues.”

The support may have been a relief in Tokyo. Chief Cabinet Secretary Minoru Kihara, the nation’s top spokesperson, said the remarks “demonstrate the strong U.S.-Japan alliance.”

More to come

The patrols by two Russian TU-95 “Bear” bombers and two Chinese H-6 bombers Wednesday were the latest regional exercises the two authoritarian Pacific powers have conducted. Their patrol routes covered the Sea of Japan and skies east of the island nation, proximate to Okinawa.

That appears to have generated a U.S. physical response, with the brace of B-52s joined by top-tier Japanese fighters.

Even so, Japan’s highest-ranked military officer, speaking in a regular press briefing Thursday, declined to discuss the joint flight’s aim.

Hiroaki Uchikura, head of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said, “We are not aiming at any particular country,” and “the purpose of the drills is to further strengthen the deterrent and response capabilities of the Japan-U.S. alliance.”

Although matters remain tense, there is no indication that the spat will escalate into violence.

Under the leadership of Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, the U.S. military is sharpening its lethality. Beijing takes the opposite approach.

In recent decades, it has mastered non-kinetic, hybrid operations, successfully advancing its lines in regional flash points such as the Himalayas, the South China Sea and the Taiwan Strait.

Chinese troops have not engaged in combat since 1988. That year, they captured Johnson Reef, in the Spratly Islands, from Vietnam. Several vessels were sunk and scores of Vietnamese troops were killed in the clash.