Tension Rise: UK, Japan and US begin military exercise as concern about China grows in South China Sea.

UK, Japan and the United States on Monday began air, sea and land exercises around Japan in a show of force in the face of increased Chinese military activity in the region.

US and Japan add pressure on Beijing over the South China Sea and the Senkaku Islands.

US and Japan have joined a battle of diplomatic notes over the South China Sea dispute, adding to pressure on Beijing over its expansive claims in the strategically vital waterway.

In a note verbale – a type of diplomatic communication – sent on Tuesday, Japan’s permanent mission to the United Nations said China’s “drawing of territorial sea baselines … on relevant islands and reefs in the South China Sea” failed to satisfy conditions set out in the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea.

It also accused China of restricting freedom of navigation and overflight in the South China Sea.

Beijing’s claims to most of the waterway were rejected in 2016 by a tribunal in The Hague that ruled several of the land features were “low-tide elevations” without territorial waters.

A-10 Warthog in Action: Firing GAU-8 Avenger and 30mm impacts/sparks on targets.

Brrrrrrrrrrrrrr!

Japan: U.S. Marines participate in a live-fire and a M4 carbine live-fire of exercise Fuji Viper 21.2

U.S. Marines with Kilo Company, 3d Battalion, 8th Marine Regiment, participate in a live-fire and a M4 carbine live-fire range as part of exercise Fuji Viper 21.2 at Combined Arms Training Center, Camp Fuji, Japan, Jan.15, 2021. During this evolution of Fuji Viper, Marines honed their tactical skills, demonstrating that infantry formations can facilitate joint force multi-domain maneuver in support of naval operations.