US flies bombers in high-profile show of support for Japan

The exercise came a day after Russian and Chinese warplanes conducted their own joint patrol in the seas around Japan’s southern islands, which Tokyo said were intended as a show of force directed at a U.S. security ally in Asia.

“This bilateral exercise reaffirms the strong will between Japan and the U.S. not to tolerate unilateral changes to the status quo by force," Japan’s Ministry of Defense said in a statement.

The presence of U.S. strategic bombers alongside Japanese aircraft in the skies over the Sea of Japan marks a notable uplift in U.S. support for Japan as tensions continue to flare between Tokyo and Beijing. The B-52s were accompanied by three Japanese F-35s and three Japanese F-15s, the Japanese defense ministry said.

Senior U.S. administration officials, including President Trump, have so far kept silent on the quarrel, which erupted in early November when Takaichi triggered Chinese fury by saying Japan could be pulled into conflict over Taiwan to defend itself or its allies such as the U.S. China considers the self-ruled island democracy part of its territory and hasn’t ruled out taking it by force.

Trump is eager to sign a trade deal with Beijing and wants to preserve a delicate detente with Chinese leader Xi Jinping after months of sparring over trade. In a phone call late last month, Trump suggested Takaichi not provoke Chinese leader Xi Jinping over the sensitive Taiwan issue, The Wall Street Journal reported. The Japanese government denied the report.

Nonetheless, sending B-52 bombers to fly alongside Japanese fighters is a signal that the U.S. is paying attention to the spat and that Chinese pressure won’t split the U.S.-Japan alliance, said Christopher Johnstone, a partner at the Asia Group, a Washington, D.C.-based strategic advisory firm.

“That’s the reason why it’s so important from the Japanese perspective. It shows they are not alone in responding to this," he said.

Takaichi is a conservative who struck up a rapport with Trump when he visited Tokyo not long after she took office in October. She said on Wednesday in the Japanese Parliament that she is eager to see Trump again “as soon as possible."

Beijing, however, has painted Takaichi as a throwback to the militaristic leaders of wartime Japan and demanded she retract her statement concerning Japan’s possible response were China to move on Taiwan. China considers Taiwan a purely domestic affair.

Takaichi has refused to walk back her remarks, saying they were a statement of longstanding, if largely unspoken, Japanese policy. She has said she won’t repeat them.

Chinese threats of reprisals against Japan have included possible economic measures such as banning imports of Japanese seafood and advising Chinese tourists to stay away from the country. China’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs repeated those warnings Thursday, citing earthquake risks after a quake Monday in the sea off Japan’s northeastern coast.

China has also stepped up military maneuvers near Japan that Tokyo considers aggressive. In addition to the joint Russian-Chinese patrol on Tuesday, Chinese fighters locked radar onto Japanese planes sent to intercept them near Japanese airspace on Saturday, according to Japanese officials. Chinese Coast Guard and other vessels have repeatedly sailed close to the Senkaku Islands, Japanese territory China claims as its own.

Some analysts say even if the White House is focused on securing a trade deal with China, that doesn’t alter Trump’s wider ambition of ensuring peace in the Pacific and ending other conflicts across the globe.

“China’s provocative and aggressive actions…suggest that Beijing feels free to disrupt the peace and stability President Trump wants in the Indo-Pacific," said William Chou, a Japan expert at the Hudson Institute, a conservative think tank based in Washington, D.C.

“This joint U.S.-Japan show of force is a reminder of the strong bilateral alliance and our commitment to taking actions to preserve peace and prosperity in Asia," he added.

Write to Jason Douglas at jason.douglas@wsj.com