South China Sea tensions rise as Japan joins US in training exercise
Tensions are rising as Japan has said it will join the US in training exercises in the South China Sea and will also join bilateral and multilateral exercises with regional navies, particularly the Philippines and Vietnam, to help build the capacity of coastal states in the region. The US, which plans to allocate 60% of its Navy/Air Force to the region by 2020, has welcomed Japan's interest in expanding its maritime activities adding it will "continue to explore ways to enhance US-Japan cooperative efforts." China previously warned Japan it would be "crossing a red line" if it took part in a US freedom of navigation operation in the South China Sea. 
Japan’s defense minister announced the country will step up its involvement in the South China Sea at a U.S. think tank event Thursday, Reuters reported.

“Japan, for its part, will increase engagement in the South China Sea,” Minister of Defense of Japan Tomomi Inada said during the Global Leaders Forum at the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS).

“I strongly support the U.S. Navy’s freedom-of-navigation operations, which go a long way to upholding the rules-based international maritime order,” she added.

China warned Japan in June that Tokyo should keep its Self Defense Forces (SDF) out of the South China Sea. Chinese ambassador to Japan, Cheng Yonghua, told a high-level Japanese official that Tokyo would “cross a red line” if it took part in a freedom of navigation operation in the South China Sea, reported The Japan Times.

The warning to Japan was issued shortly before the Permanent Court of Arbitration in The Hague discredited China’s famous nine-dashed line and vast territorial claims to the South China Sea.

China rejects the ruling and has continued to take steps to increase its military presence and dominance over the South China Sea.

“What China has been doing in the East and South China Sea is raising serious concerns in the Asia Pacific and beyond,” said Inada.

“Chinese actions constitute a deliberate attempt to unilaterally change the status quo, achieve a fait accompli, and undermine the prevailing norms. If the world condones coercive attempts to change the rules of the road in the East China Sea and South China Sea and allow rule-bending in their waters and airspace, its consequences could become global,” Inada explained.

Japan has not yet announced that it will take part in a freedom of navigation operation in the disputed area, but the defense minister’s statements suggest that Japan may be moving that direction.

Japanese laws already permit the SDF to protect U.S. ships operating inside contested areas. To boost its involvement in the South China Sea, Japan will take part in “Maritime Self-Defense Force joint training cruises with the U.S. Navy and bilateral and multilateral exercises with regional navies,” explained Inada.

Inada also confirmed that Japan will continue its efforts to increase the defense capabilities of other claimant states involved in the South China Sea disputes.

Japan hopes to encourage China to act as an agent of stability. The door for communication is still open, Inada concluded her presentation saying.

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