The Self-Defense Forces will carry out a simulated exercise later this month on the premise that China and Taiwan are engaged in a military clash, a government source said Wednesday.
The Defense Ministry plans to check how SDF personnel should perform new duties allowed under Japan's security laws in the outbreak of a situation deemed to pose serious threats to Japan's peace and security.
The SDF will carry out the exercise from Jan. 23 to 27 with the U.S. military participating as an observer, the source said.
The drill will take place based on a scenario that the U.S. military and the SDF jointly deal with Chinese military forces in the event of a clash between China and Taiwan.
The revised security legislation, which took effect last March, expands the SDF's role in providing logistical support to other nation's militaries when Japan's peace and security are deemed threatened regardless of location.
Japan's old law effectively allowed the SDF to conduct such activities only in an emergency occurring in areas surrounding Japan.
The SDF carried out its first joint exercise with U.S. forces in November to simulate new duties allowed under the security legislation in the event of emergencies that threaten Japan's peace and security.
The simulated exercise will take place at a time when relations between China and Taiwan have soured since U.S. President-elect Donald Trump talked by telephone with Taiwan President Tsai Ing-wen.
But the upcoming exercise was planned before Trump was elected as the next U.S. president, the source said.