The Japanese Ministry of Defense has been building a Self-Defense Forces (JSDF) base on Mageshima off the coast of Kyushu. In 2012, when then-Japanese prime minister Yoshihiko Noda obtained ownership of most of the Diaoyutais (釣魚台), known in Japan as the Senkaku Islands, Japan had already been pushing for the relocation.
The joint Japan-US Naval Air Facility Atsugi in Kanagawa Prefecture is deeply unpopular due to the risks posed by jet planes landing and taking off. As the US army modifies its military deployment in the western Pacific as part of the US-Japan alliance, the most recent Japanese prime ministers have been compelled to relocate military forces to outlying islands.
Located between Kyushu and Okinawa, Mageshima is the second-biggest uninhabited island owned by Japan. In 2021, the US and Japanese governments chose the island as a base for the JSDF navy and air force to host takeoff and landing practices.
Mageshima lies about 800km from China and 900km from Shanghai. It only takes one hour for a Lockheed Martin F-35 to reach the east coast of China from it. The aim of this move is to disperse the US military’s presence near the South China Sea.
For the past few years, the US has finished stationing its military presence in Northeast Asia, complete with its deployment of fifth-generation F-35 jets abroad. In the initial stage of deployment, the US and Japan learned much about the capability of the fighters, especially the combat radius of the F-35 and its state-of-the-art military tactical data link network, Link 16. Those features outperformed the former system, and the governments began seeking the ideal practice site for the new fighter jet.
In the joint military exercise that the US and Japan conducted last year, the JSDF’s failure to carry out low-flight simulation for stealth operations troubled the Japanese Ministry of Defense. If Russia’s and China’s stealth aircraft launch a sneak attack on Japan, they would undermine the security of Japan and US military bases. The ministry has therefore sought to militarize neighboring islands.
Last year’s “Defense of Japan” white paper mentioned Mageshima and the deployment of a maritime anti-ballistic missile system, and its relation to the security of the Japanese archipelago.
The past few years have seen increased involvement of Japan in joint military exercises as part of the US-Japan alliance. In 2016, Japan hosted Typhoon fighters from the UK’s Royal Air Force, and since then the JSDF has participated in drills with Australia and Germany. Japan has also invited the Indian Air Force to send a contingent of Su-30MKI fighter jets.
The lack of military facilities has unsettled Japan, especially given China’s military expansionism and the frequency of missiles from North Korea, which gave Tokyo a reason to persuade the public of the need to increase the military budget to bolster its ability to push back against China.
Tokyo has taken to bringing up a “Taiwan contingency” when it talks of regional security, but what of a “Japan contingency”? Would Taiwan be expected to come out in support of its neighbor?
If Japan is genuinely concerned with security in the Taiwan Strait and the islands to its southwest, it should look to other alliance models, and should invite Taiwan’s armed forces to engage in joint military drills, including inviting Taiwan to send a contingent to Mageshima after the base has been established.
Taiwan’s participation in joint US-Japan exercises in the Western Pacific would contribute to regional security and stabilize the Taiwan Strait.
Chang Yan-ting is a retired air force lieutenant general and an honorary emeritus professor at National Tsing Hua University.
Translated by Rita Wang and Paul Cooper
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