As an indication of the region’s strategic importance, U.S., Chinese and Russian warships have been patrolling and drilling in the western Pacific in recent days.
The drills come amid a backdrop of speculation that war is approaching.
“We are taking the Chinese military threat very seriously … I think 2027 is the year that we need to be serious about,” Taiwan Foreign Minister Joseph Wu said last week, according to the U.K.’s Guardian.

In January, Air Force Gen. Mike Minihan, head of U.S. Air Mobility Command, wrote in a memo, “My gut tells me will fight in 2025,” according to NBC News.
With those predictions as a backdrop, competing nations drilled …