US and Allied Jets Flex Air Power Against China [Video]

Dozens of United States and Japanese military aircraft, including stealth fighter jets, held training around a strategic island near China last week, flexing the alliance’s air power.

Newsweek has contacted the U.S. Pacific Air Forces for comment by email. The Chinese Defense Ministry did not immediately respond to Newsweek‘s request for comment.

Why It Matters

The training was conducted in airspace around Okinawa, which is part of Japan’s Ryukyu Islands, also known as the Nansei Islands, in the country’s southwestern waters. They serve as a boundary between the East China Sea to the west and the Philippine Sea to the east.

Okinawa also forms a blockade, the first island chain, under a U.S. defense concept with the Japanese main islands to the north, as well as Taiwan and the Philippines to the south, which seeks to constrain the Chinese military in wartime with allied or friendly territories.

What To Know

The U.S.-Japan …