# Asian and Mediterranean Rivals Accelerate Rearmament Amid Naval Drills and Jet Fears

China and Russia held live-fire exercises inside Japan's claimed economic zone as Greece strengthens air defenses over the prospect of advanced fighters going to Turkey.

- Published: 2026-07-21T05:13:36.902Z
- Canonical: https://polylog.news/2026-07-21/asian-and-mediterranean-rivals-accelerate-rearmament-amid-na
- Publisher: Polylog (Global desk)
- Section: geopolitics
- Sources: [South China Morning Post](https://www.scmp.com/news/china/military/article/3361291/japan-says-chinese-and-russian-warships-held-live-fire-drills-within-its-eez?utm_source=rss_feed), [Globes (Hebrew)](https://www.globes.co.il/news/article.aspx?did=1001549887#utm_source=RSS)

Two regions showed the same pattern of accelerating arms competition. The South China Morning Post [reported](https://www.scmp.com/news/china/military/article/3361291/japan-says-chinese-and-russian-warships-held-live-fire-drills-within-its-eez?utm_source=rss_feed) that Japan said Chinese and Russian navy ships conducted joint live-fire drills inside Japan's claimed exclusive economic zone in the Pacific on Sunday, an activity Defense Minister Shinjiro Koizumi disclosed and that Tokyo treats as a deliberate demonstration of coordinated pressure.

In the eastern Mediterranean, Israeli financial daily Globes [reported](https://www.globes.co.il/news/article.aspx?did=1001549887#utm_source=RSS) that regional states fear the sale of advanced F-35 fighter jets to Turkey, and that Greece, unable to oppose the move openly, is accelerating the modernization of its air force using advanced Israeli systems. The response is to build capability rather than to protest.

The common pattern is that governments facing a shifting military balance are choosing to arm rather than to rely on restraint or diplomacy. Each purchase and exercise raises pressure on neighbors to match it, a cycle that sustains defense spending across regions.

## What this means

Rearmament in both East Asia and the Mediterranean channels public money into defense procurement and benefits weapons manufacturers, including Israeli and other Western suppliers supplying the arms race. The exposed parties are national budgets, which absorb rising defense costs, and neighbors who feel compelled to respond in kind. The mechanism is action and reaction, where one country's acquisition or exercise justifies the next, locking in higher military spending as a durable claim on fiscal resources.

## What to watch

- Whether Washington approves the F-35 sale to Turkey, which would trigger further procurement across the eastern Mediterranean.
- The frequency and location of joint Chinese-Russian drills near Japan, a gauge of how far the two coordinate military pressure on United States allies.