Japanese Media: Okinawa Citizens Discontent with US-Japan "Iron Fist" Military Exercises

[Global Times Special Correspondent Yuwen] According to Japan's Ryukyu Broadcasting Corporation, the joint military exercise between Japan and the United States, codenamed "Iron Fist," began on the 11th in Kyushu, Okinawa, and Yamaguchi Prefecture, aimed at strengthening island defense capabilities. This is the fourth consecutive year that the joint exercise has been held in Japan, with approximately 800 U.S. Marine Corps soldiers, 2,100 U.S. Navy personnel, and about 2,000 members from the Japan Ground Self-Defense Force and the Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force participating, marking the largest scale in history.

This year's "Iron Fist" joint military exercise will last until March 9, for about a month. The U.S. Naval Institute News reported that the exercise will cover training content including joint command, amphibious landings, air assaults, close air support target designation, water and ground obstacle clearance, logistics, medical, and communications, divided into two independent phases. A press release from the Japanese side stated that the purpose of the exercise is to conduct joint amphibious operation training between the U.S. and Japan to enhance interoperability and amphibious operation capabilities. The Okinawa Times reported on the 11th that two Japanese V-22 Osprey tiltrotor aircraft will conduct coordinated training with U.S. Marine Corps aircraft for the first time.

The U.S. Stars and Stripes reported that the "Iron Fist" joint military exercise aims to hone the capabilities of the U.S. and Japanese forces to conduct amphibious landing operations and "defend the eastern island territories of Taiwan." According to the Okinawa Times, prior to the start of the exercise, six civic groups in Okinawa, including "No War in Okinawa, Life First," issued a joint statement calling for the exercise to be stopped.