Japan Denies Labeling China 'Hypothetical Enemy' During Drills - Chinese Embassy

BEIJING (Sputnik) - Japan has informed the Chinese side that media reports about China being labeled as a hypothetical enemy for the first time during the US-Japan military drills is not true, the Chinese Embassy in Japan said Tuesday.

On Sunday, the Kyodo news agency reported that the scenario of the military drills held from February 1-8, dubbed Exercise Keen Edge and conducted by the Japanese armed forces and the US military, included a clear reference to China as a hypothetical enemy.

"We immediately expressed our serious concern to the Japanese side and also clarified our firm stance. The Japanese side provided clarity by saying that the relevant reports are not true," the embassy said in a statement.

The statement said, however, that some forces in Japan were constantly creating artificial incidents over the Taiwan issue, exaggerating tensions in the Taiwan Strait and provoking a standoff. Such actions violate the one-China principle and several China-Japan political agreements, the embassy added.

The drills, in which Australia is also participating for the first time this year, are a computerized simulation of an emergency in Taiwan, which is aimed at improving interoperability among participating countries' units, practicing the command and control system operations in a dynamic scenario and testing communications systems in different geographic areas of the region.

Taiwan has been governed independently of mainland China since 1949. Beijing views the island as its province, while Taiwan — a territory with its own elected government — maintains that it is an autonomous country but stops short of declaring independence. The 1992 Consensus refers to a meeting between Beijing and Taipei delegations during which they agreed to the one-China principle. Beijing opposes any official contacts of foreign states with Taipei and considers Chinese sovereignty over the island indisputable.