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on august 22, 2024, in kanagawa prefecture, japan, the italian aircraft carrier "giant cavour" docked at the yokosuka base to prepare for military exercises (visual china/photo)

from august 27 to 29, 2024, the japan maritime self-defense force conducted joint training with the navies of australia, italy, germany, and france in the waters south of kanto and east of okinawa. the joint training is said to be aimed at improving the tactical capabilities of the japan maritime self-defense force and strengthening cooperation between the japan maritime self-defense force and the navies of participating countries.

the japan maritime self-defense force dispatched the helicopter frigate "izumo", as well as submarines and p-1 patrol aircraft. the italian aircraft carrier "giant cavour", which docked at the maritime self-defense force yokosuka base for the first time on august 22, as well as frigates from germany, france, italy and destroyers from australia also participated in the training. the training content included air defense, anti-submarine, maritime coordination, etc. the us navy did not participate in this joint training. this move aims to highlight the strengthening of cooperation between japan and european countries to jointly realize the so-called "free and open indo-pacific" vision.

this is not the first time that japan has held joint military exercises with european militaries in the indo-pacific region. in july 2024, a flight team of more than 30 military aircraft from germany, france and spain arrived in japan to conduct a series of training exercises with the japan air self-defense force. this is the first time that the three countries have deployed a trilateral air force in the indo-pacific region. germany and spain sent european typhoon fighters, while france sent rafale fighters, accompanied by several transport aircraft, aerial refueling aircraft and hundreds of personnel. the air self-defense force deployed f-2 fighters to participate in exercises with france, and deployed f-15 fighters to participate in exercises with spain and germany. in early 2024, the united kingdom also finalized with japan to continue to conduct regular joint military exercises in the future, and began the first naval and air force exercises.

this situation is very rare, and it has never happened even during the cold war. previously, according to the us global strategy, the indo-pacific region and europe had independent divisions of labor. this arrangement by the united states since the cold war has actually continued the strategic inertia of europe's priority in world war ii. judging from the size of the global economy at the time, europe was still the world's economic core, and there was no force in asia that could challenge the us navy at sea. even the soviet pacific fleet at the time was still slightly weak in front of the us aircraft carrier battle group, and the submarine force was surrounded by the us and japanese navies in a very narrow sea area that was difficult to break through. therefore, in the indo-pacific region, the united states and its allies did not form a highly coordinated military alliance organization like nato.

however, in recent years, the concept of "asian nato" has been frequently mentioned, but from a structural point of view, this possibility is not great for the time being. the main reason is that the military strength of countries in the indo-pacific region is too uneven. japan and south korea can be classified as the first echelon in europe, and their industrial strength is strong, but it is difficult to unite due to historical grievances. the military strength of the united states in southeast asia, such as the philippines, is better than nothing. most of them are agricultural countries, lacking industrial foundations, and the strength gap is too far, making it difficult to conduct joint operations. this has led to the united states and the west adopting a patron-style system in their military layout in the indo-pacific region, that is, the united states or powerful allies play the role of patrons, while other allies in the region are completely servant armies. even japan and south korea, which are now strong in the indo-pacific region, can only play a supporting role for the united states throughout the cold war.

previously, asean, which is composed of southeast asian countries, had attempted to establish a military alliance organization in the south pacific region. however, the overall strength was too weak, and some countries, such as myanmar, had been in civil war for a long time and could not carry out coordinated operations like nato. therefore, its political attributes were greater than its military attributes.

however, as the united states shifts its strategic focus to the asia-pacific region, it is bound to integrate the military forces of its allies in the region. against this background, japan has been given a new role as the protector of the indo-pacific region by the united states. since the military strength of the united states' partners in east asia and even southeast asia is still relatively weak, it is necessary to introduce more powerful partners from outside the city into the region - europe has entered the market.

although the russian-ukrainian conflict has led to a tense security situation in europe, russia's naval power currently appears to be quite weak. the black sea fleet is in name only, and the baltic fleet is completely surrounded by sweden and finland, which have just joined nato. european countries have no decent maritime opponents in the region. its naval power is naturally seen as a mobile force that can be mobilized and tilted towards the asia-pacific region. european countries have principled differences with china on the russian-ukrainian issue and trade disputes, so they have begun to change from not choosing sides politically to supporting the united states, and will naturally take some actions militarily.

from this five-nation military exercise, we can see that japan's maritime forces are changing from a collaborator with the united states to a regional leader that can coordinate other allies to fight together. this thing that was unimaginable during the cold war is becoming a reality. as the global security situation continues to deteriorate, the degree of military alliance in the indo-pacific region will become higher and higher, and the military coordination between europe and japan will become more frequent and close, so we should be highly vigilant.