Japan's Destroyer Transits Taiwan Strait for Balikatan Exercise; China Responds with Military Drills

Gate News message, April 21 — Japan’s Maritime Self-Defense Force (JMSDF) destroyer Ikazuchi passed through the Taiwan Strait on April 17 to participate in the U.S.-Philippines joint military exercise Balikatan, marking the fourth such transit since September 2024 and the first under Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi. The JMSDF is deploying 1,400 personnel, 3 ships, and 2 aircraft for the exercise, which runs for approximately three weeks in disputed South China Sea waters and the Philippines region.

China’s military responded on April 19 by sending its latest destroyer flotilla (the 133 fleet) through the Yokoate Strait, a key passage to the Western Pacific, to conduct combat drills. Chinese state media outlet China News Service interpreted the timing of Japan’s transit as coinciding with the Treaty of Shimonoseki anniversary, labeling it an “intentional provocation.” The People’s Liberation Army’s social media account Junzhengping warned: “If you insist on making mistakes without correction, what awaits is being burned by the fire you started.”

Additionally, Chinese naval vessels—a destroyer and frigate—passed through waters south of Japan’s southwestern Kyushu Island on April 21, transitioning from the East China Sea to the Pacific. Japan’s Defense Ministry views this passage as a potential countermeasure to the JMSDF’s Taiwan Strait transit.