BBC: <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Japan plans to deploy surface-to-air missiles to its remote western island near Taiwan by March 2031, its defence minister said, as regional tensions simmer.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It is the first time that Japan specified a timeline for the missile deployment to Yonaguni island since it was announced in 2022.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
China claims self-ruled Taiwan as its own and has not ruled out the use of force to “reunify” with it. Yonaguni is visible from Taiwan’s shores on a clear day, located just 110km (68 miles) away.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Tensions between Tokyo and Beijing have run high since November when Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi appeared to suggest that Japan would activate its self-defence force in the event of an attack on Taiwan.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The worry has long been that any attack on Taiwan, which counts the US as an ally, could result in a direct military conflict between Washington and Beijing, then widen to include other US allies in the region such as Japan.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Takaichi’s remarks to parliament plunged ties with China to their lowest level in years and Beijing has been piling on the pressure in a wide range of ways – sending warships, throttling rare earth exports, curbing Chinese tourism, cancelling concerts and even reclaiming its pandas.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Japanese defence minister Shinjiro Koizumi announced the timeline for the missiles on Tuesday, a day after China imposed export curbs on 20 Japanese companies and entities, citing national security concerns.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Koizumi said the Yonaguni unit will be equipped with medium-range surface-to-air missiles able to intercept incoming aircraft and missiles.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
China has yet to react to Koizumi’s announcement. But when Koizumi visited Yonaguni in November, Beijing said Japan was moving to “create regional tension and provoke military confrontation”.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Within days, it flew drones near the island to express its anger, prompting Japan to scramble aircraft jets in response.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The latest developments come after Takaichi, a conservative China hawk, secured a landslide victory in parliamentary elections earlier this month.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
That victory gave Takaichi political space to double down on boosting Japan’s defence capabilities.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It makes the announcement on Yonaguni island more than just a military adjustment. It looks like the opening chapter of a more assertive Tokyo \u2014 and that it is unlikely to end here.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It shows where Japan sees its front line and how far it is prepared to go to defend it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Over the past decade, Japan has transformed sleepy Yonaguni into a military outpost. It currently handles coastal surveillance and is staffed by some 160 members of Japan’s self-defence force.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
An electronic warfare unit capable of disrupting enemy communications and radar will be set up in fiscal year 2026, which runs from April to March next year.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The timing for the deployment of the missile unit “may change depending on the progress of future facility improvements, but the current plan is for fiscal year 2030”, Koizumi said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
BBC: Japan plans to deploy surface-to-air missiles to its remote western island near Taiwan by March 2031, its defence minister said, as regional tensions simmer. It is the first time that Japan specified a timeline for the missile deployment to Yonaguni island since it was announced in 2022. China claims self-ruled Taiwan as its own and has not ruled out the use of force to “reunify” with it. Yonaguni is visible from Taiwan’s shores on a clear day, located just 110km (68 miles) away. Tensions between Tokyo and Beijing have run high since November when Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi… <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":55002,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-55001","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news-in-english"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/gyalchisarshog.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/55001","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/gyalchisarshog.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/gyalchisarshog.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gyalchisarshog.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gyalchisarshog.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=55001"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/gyalchisarshog.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/55001\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":55003,"href":"https:\/\/gyalchisarshog.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/55001\/revisions\/55003"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gyalchisarshog.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/55002"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/gyalchisarshog.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=55001"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gyalchisarshog.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=55001"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gyalchisarshog.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=55001"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}