New Delhi, Oct. 19 -- Residents of Yonaguni, the Japanese island 110 kilometres from Taiwan, have been asked to stay off the roads while military equipment is moved through Kubura Port for Keen Sword, the US-Japan exercise that opened on Monday. Defense News reported on Oct. 5 that the island's local government remained opposed to the drills and was still talking to the Defense Ministry.

12 GMT on Oct. 19 that the exercise runs to Oct. 29 and stretches from waters near Taiwan to Hokkaido, while Taipei complains about Chinese ships around Taiwan. It put the force at about 45,000 Japanese troops and 12,000 US service members, and attributed both figures to a Japanese news agency.

The new element is hardware. According to TASS, Japan will ...