The United States has tested a new way to expand its military drone operations in the western Pacific, as an MQ-9 Reaper launched and landed without a runway at Kadena Air Base in Japan, a front-line American air power hub near China and Taiwan.

The Chinese Foreign Ministry did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Why It Matters

As part of the U.S. military presence in Japan , a key ally in Washington's strategy to contain China , the Air Force, the Marine Corps and the Navy have deployed drones across Japanese territory, including at Kadena Air Base, which has hosted unmanned aircraft from all three services as of September, according to a Newsweek map .

At a distance of 370 miles, Kadena is the closest U.S. air base to Taiwan —a self-ruled island claimed by

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