TOKYO, December 12. /DUNYO IA/. The United States and Japan conducted joint air force demonstrations in response to recent Chinese-Russian military exercises near Japanese and South Korean air and maritime zones, reports Dunyo IA correspondent, citing Reuters.

The Ministries of Defense of Japan and the United States stated that they remain “reaffirmed their strong resolve to prevent any unilateral attempt to change the status quo by force and confirmed the readiness posture of both the Self-Defense Forces and U.S. forces”.

It was reported that the flight of two U.S. B-52 strategic bombers with three Japanese F-35 stealth fighters and three F-15 air-superiority jets was the first time the U.S. had asserted its military presence since China began military exercises in the region last week amid heightened tensions between Tokyo and Beijing.

However, a U.S. official, speaking on the condition of anonymity, played down the bomber flights, saying they were pre-planned well before the Chinese-Russian drills and that U.S. and Japanese military aircraft carried out similar joint sorties last month, also involving U.S. B-1B bombers.

Earlier, Chinese and Russian strategic bombers conducted flights over the East China Sea and the western Pacific. The Chinese side also carried out separate exercises involving an aircraft carrier, prompting Japan to scramble fighter jets for interception. According to Tokyo, the Japanese aircraft were detected by Chinese radar systems.

The latter incident prompted U.S. State Department. According to reports, President Donald Trump, who plans to visit China in 2026 to discuss trade issues, informed Japanese Prime Minister, Sanae Takaichi that he does not see further escalation of the dispute over Taiwan.

At the White House, spokeswoman Karoline Leavitt said U.S. President Donald Trump can maintain both a "good working relationship" with China and a "very strong alliance" with Japan, even as tensions have risen between those two countries.

The escalation of tensions last month followed Japanese Prime Minister, Sanae Takaichi’s statement that any potential Chinese aggression against Taiwan would be regarded by Tokyo as “a situation threatening our existence” and could prompt Japan to consider military action in self-defense.

In official remarks at a regular press briefing, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Mao Ning stated that Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi’s “erroneous remarks” on the Taiwan issue had damaged the political foundation of China–Japan relations. She urged Japan to retract the remarks and take corrective action, warning that if Japan refused to do so and continued on a “wrong course,” China would be compelled to take additional measures and that Japan would bear the resulting consequences.

Photo from “Reuters” Agency