Japan's coast guard will simulate a collision between vessels Friday during exercises with the US and the Philippines seen as a show of unity against China.

Japan, the United States, and the Philippines carried out a major coast guard drills together on Friday. The drill took place in the waters off Kagoshima, a southern part of Japan. This event comes at a time when worries are growing about China’s increasing actions in the Pacific Ocean.

Helicopters buzzed in the shadow of a smouldering volcano and boats rescued dummies from the sea this week in a show of maritime unity by Japan, the United States and the Philippines. The joint coast guard exercises held off Japan’s southwest shore follow a warning from the three countries about Chinese activity in disputed regional

The drills, which will include simulated search and rescue exercise later this week, follow exercises that were held in the Philippines in June 2023.

MANILA: The Philippines and Japan conducted joint maritime exercises in the West Philippine Sea over the weekend, marking one of their first major joint activities after Japan's Diet ratified early this month the reciprocal access agreement (RAA) between the two countries.

Japan’s coast guard has held a joint exercise with counterparts from the United States and the Philippines, as the three Pacific nations beef up defense cooperation in the face of China’s expanding ma