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US, UK, Japan, others hold drill in Pacific; move undermining regional peace: expert

Global Times

By Liu Xuanzun and Liang Rui Published: Aug 06, 2025 11:57 AM

Six countries, including the US, the UK and Japan, are holding a multilateral exercise featuring aircraft carriers in the Western Pacific, with Japanese media hyping the drill as pointed at China. A Chinese expert said on Wednesday that the drill undermines peace and stability in the region.

US warships, including aircraft carrier George Washington, are joining the UK's Prince of Wales carrier strike group and Japan's carrier Kaga to drill in the Western Pacific this week, according to a Tuesday report by the USNI News, the website of the US Naval Institute.

The nine-day joint exercise, featuring also components from Australian, Norwegian and Spanish navies, will last until August 12, the USNI News report said, citing a news release by Japan's Maritime Self-Defense Force.

Japan's Jiji Press claimed in a report on Tuesday that the drill "is viewed as a warning against China's maritime expansion."

Zhang Junshe, a Chinese military affairs expert, told the Global Times on Wednesday that the joint drill led by the US seriously undermines peace and stability in the Asia-Pacific region, and these countries are forming cliques or factions in an attempt to contain China while hyping so-called "China threat."

This year marks the 80th anniversary of the World Anti-Fascist War. Japan, as both an aggressor and a defeated nation in the war, should deeply reflect on its crimes committed in the World War II rather than flexing its muscles of its de facto aircraft carrier, Zhang said, noting that countries like the US should not encourage Japan to break away from its post-war pacifist constitution.

Meanwhile, after wrapping up the Joint Sea-2025 naval drill in waters near Vladivostok, Russia on Tuesday, Chinese and Russian warships are proceeding to a maritime joint patrol in the Western Pacific on Wednesday.

Zhang said that unlike the US-led joint exercise, the China-Russia drill is not targeted at any third party, but rather aims to safeguard their own national sovereignty, security and development interests.

In response to another recent exercise by the US military in the Western Pacific, Chinese Defense Ministry spokesperson Zhang Xiaogang said at a regular press conference on July 30 that the Pacific Ocean should be a place of peace and tranquility, not somewhere to deliberately stir up trouble.

Stuck in the Cold War mentality, the US has been flexing muscles and showing off its strength in the Asia-Pacific. Under the guise of military drills, it has been forming exclusive groupings and threatening and pressuring other countries, undermining peace and stability in the region, Zhang Xiaogang said.

China will sit tight and face the challenges calmly, the spokesperson said, "The Chinese military has both the confidence and the capability to respond to all risks and challenges, and will resolutely safeguard national sovereignty, security and development interests. China will remain a firm force for peace in the world and the region," he said.