Japan has its own maritime territorial dispute with Beijing in the East China Sea. The US military stressed that Saturday’s exercise was not aimed at China, which has also built artificial islands on disputed areas of the South China Sea and installed military facilities on them. “It has nothing to do with a foreign nation or any sort of foreign army. This is exclusively counter-terrorism within the Philippines,” US Marine communications officer 1st Lt. Zack Doherty told AFP.

Japan military joins historic PH war games. (2018, October 7). Philippine Daily Inquirer, p. A13.