Japan and the united states will likely
agree to begin work to formalize an
operation plan when their foreign and
defense chiefs meet in early january
under the two plus two framework, the
sources said thursday. The development will likely draw a
backlash from china which regards the
self-ruled island of taiwan as a
renegade province to be reunified with
the mainland by force if necessary.
Under the draft plan u.s marines will
set up a temporary attack base at the
initial stage of contingency on the
nancy islands. A chain stretching
southwest from the prefectures of
kagoshima and okinawa toward taiwan. Okinawa hosts the bulk of u.s military
installations in japan. The u.s military will get support from
the SDF to send troops to the islands if
a taiwan contingency appears imminent, the sources said.
Such a deployment however would make the
islands the target of attack by china's
military, putting the lives of residents
there at risk. Legal changes would be needed in japan
to realize the plan, the sources said. The SDF and the u.s forces have around
40 candidate sites along the nancy chain
which consists of around 200 islands
including uninhabited ones.
Most of the locations have residents and
islands where the SDF has deployed or
plans to deploy missile units, Amami Oshima Nyako and Ishigaki near the
senkaku islands controlled by japan but
claimed by china are among the
candidates, the sources said.
As long-time security allies japan and
the united states have been
strengthening defense cooperation and
boosting the interoperability of the SDF and the u.s military. They face threats from china's military
buildup and assertive moves at sea as
well as north korea's nuclear and
missile development. The u.s marine corps have expeditionary
advanced base operation manuals to
dispatch marines in small formations to
necessary locations, apparently in view
of china's assertive moves.
The japanese government sources said the
u.s indo-pacific command had proposed to
the sdf to create a joint operation plan. The condition under which the u.s
military will set up a temporary base is
when the japanese government judges that
conflict between the chinese and
taiwanese militaries will undermine the
peace and security of japan if left as
is, the sources said.
In such a scenario the u.s military will
deploy its high-mobility artillery
rocket system to a temporary base
location while the SDF will be tasked
with logistical support by providing
ammunition and fuel, to prevent coming under attack u.s
marines will change base locations, the
sources added. The united states has been hardening its
stance on china as they compete for
economic, technological and military
superiority. Japan for its part has seen its
relations with china frayed over history
in the senkakus, a group of uninhabited
islands in the east china sea.
Underscoring heightened vigilance, japan
and the united states stressed in a
joint statement the importance of peace
and stability across the taiwan strait
when their leaders met in april. It was the first time in half a century
for the two nations leaders to mention
taiwan in a statement. The united states would come to the aid
of taiwan should china turn to the use
of force. During a taiwan think tank event in
early december, former prime minister
shinzo abe said any taiwan contingency
would also be an emergency for japan and
for the japan us
security alliance.
