Japan and US test island air defense in Taiwan's neighborhood

Allies conduct first missile drill in Nansei Islands on China's party centennial

Members of the Japanese Self-Defense Forces and the U.S. Army inspect missile launchers July 1 on Japan's Amami Oshima island. (Photo by Junnosuke Kobara)

JUNNOSUKE KOBARA, Nikkei staff writer

July 2, 2021 04:33 JST

AMAMI, Japan -- Japan and the U.S. on Thursday carried out a surface-to-air drill here on a Japanese island, part of the Nansei Islands, roughly 850 km from Taiwan, in a show of unity that coincided with the 100th anniversary of the Chinese Communist Party.

Forty members of the Ground Self-Defense Force and 30 U.S. Army soldiers gathered under clouds at a hilltop garrison on Amami Oshima, where they deployed truck-mounted launchers for anti-air missiles.