{"id":14752,"date":"2021-05-11T21:34:02","date_gmt":"2021-05-11T21:34:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/uncategorized\/2021\/05\/11\/japan-us-france-hold-1st-joint-drills-on-japanese-land\/"},"modified":"2026-08-08T20:12:28","modified_gmt":"2026-08-08T20:12:28","slug":"japan-us-france-hold-1st-joint-drills-on-japanese-land","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/training-sim\/2021\/05\/11\/japan-us-france-hold-1st-joint-drills-on-japanese-land\/","title":{"rendered":"Japan, US, France hold 1st joint drills on Japanese land"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

TOKYO \u2014 Japanese ground troops joined American and French counterparts in their first three-way exercise on Japanese land, as they seek to strengthen military ties amid growing Chinese assertiveness in the region.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The \u201cARC21\u201d exercise started Tuesday at the Ground Self-Defense Force\u2019s Ainoura base in Nagasaki prefecture. Japan is seeking to expand its military ties beyond its alliance with the United States to include \u201clike-minded\u201d countries such as France, Defense Minister Nobuo Kishi told reporters.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He said France, the only European nation with a permanent military presence in the Indo-Pacific region, is \u201ca like-minded country that shares with Japan the vision of a free and open Indo-Pacific.\u201d He said Japan welcomes France\u2019s participation in the region and hopes to expand the partnership further. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

About 100 Japanese troops, including rapid amphibious deployment units, or Japanese marines<\/a>, joined by 60 troops each from the French army and U.S. Marine Corps, are to conduct urban warfare drills followed by amphibious operation exercises<\/a> under a scenario of defending a remote island from an enemy invasion. <\/p>\n\n\n\t