Japan’s troops to train with US, Australian forces amid concerns over China

The joint amphibious training is announced after three countries express concerns about ‘dangerous conduct’ by the Chinese military. Japan’s troops will participate in joint training with United States Marines and Australian forces in northern Australia next year, the defence ministers from the three countries have said, as they expressed concerns over the growing threat from the Chinese military. They announced trilateral amphibious training between Australia, Japan and the US Marine rotational force in northern Australia from 2025, beginning with a multinational training activity called Exercise Talisman Sabre. When asked if the agreement would anger Beijing, Marles said the decision was about building “the best relationships possible with like-minded countries, with our friends and with our allies.” Canberra will also join Exercise Orient Shield in Japan, a field training exercise between Japanese and US forces, for the first time next year. About 2,000 US Marines have already been hosted in Darwin, the capital of the Northern Australian territory, for six months of the year due to rising concerns among the US and its allies over China’s growing military power in the Indo-Pacific region.