Japan is considering the deployment of more than 1,000 long-range cruise missiles to increase its ability to counter growing regional threats from China, the Yomiuri Shimbun reported yesterday.
The country plans to upgrade its existing surface-to-ship missiles to extend their range from 100km to about 1,000km, which would be enough to reach Chinese coastal areas, as well as North Korea, the newspaper reported, citing unnamed sources.
Upgrades would also need to be made to enable Japan’s ships and aircraft to be able to fire the new missiles, which could hit land-based targets, the newspaper reported.
Photo: Reuters
The missiles would be deployed in and around the southwestern Kyushu region and on the small islands that dot Japan’s southwestern waters near Taiwan, the Yomiuri reported.
Japanese officials could not be reached for comment.
The plan is part of Japan’s attempt to narrow its missile capacity gap with China, while also addressing threats from North Korea, the newspaper said.
Japan’s military is not officially recognized under the country’s post-war constitution and defense spending is limited to funding nominally defensive capabilities.
Recent geopolitical tensions, including Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and China’s increasingly aggressive stance toward Taiwan, have prompted growing calls in Japan to review defense programs.
Regional tensions ratcheted up this month after a visit by US House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi to Taiwan. In response, Beijing launched missiles over Taiwan and into Japan’s exclusive economic zone.
Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida has vowed to significantly boost defense spending, which has been kept near 1 percent of GDP.
Local media also reported that the Japanese Ministry of Defense is likely to request ￥5.5 trillion (US$40.2 billion) for the next fiscal year, up slightly from the ￥5.18 trillion requested for this fiscal year.
However, the ministry was also expected to ask approval for a list of unpriced items, including the development cost to upgrade the long-range cruise missiles, the Asahi Shimbun reported.
Additional reporting by Reuters
SILENCING CRITICS: In addition to blocking Taiwan, China aimed to prevent rights activists from speaking out against authoritarian states, a Cabinet department said The Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) yesterday condemned transnational repression by Beijing after RightsCon, a major digital human rights conference scheduled to be held in Zambia this week, was abruptly canceled due to Chinese pressure over Taiwanese participation. This year’s RightsCon, the world’s largest conference discussing issues “at the intersection of human rights and technology,” was scheduled to take place from tomorrow to Friday in Lusaka, and expected to draw 2,600 in-person attendees from 150 countries, along with 1,100 online participants. However, organizers were forced to cancel the event due to behind-the-scenes pressure from China, the ministry said, expressing its “strongest condemnation”
DELAYED BUT DETERMINED: The president’s visit highlights Taiwan’s right to international engagement amid regional pressure from China President Willaim Lai (賴清德) yesterday arrived in Eswatini, more than a week after his planned visit to Taiwan’s sole African ally was suspended because of revoked overflight permits. “The visit, originally scheduled for April 22, was postponed due to unforeseen external factors,” Lai wrote on social media. “After several days of careful arrangements by our diplomatic and national security teams, we successfully arrived today.” Lai said he looked forward to further deepening Taiwan-Eswatini relations through closer cooperation in the economy, agriculture, culture and education, as well as advancing the nation’s international partnerships. The president was initially scheduled to arrive in time to celebrate
Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corp (IRGC) yesterday said the US faced a choice between an “impossible” military operation or a “bad deal” with Tehran, after US President Donald Trump disparaged Iran’s latest peace proposal. Negotiations between the two countries have been deadlocked since a ceasefire came into effect on April 8, with only one round of direct peace talks held so far. Iran’s Tasnim and Fars news agencies reported that Tehran had submitted a 14-point proposal to mediator Pakistan, but Trump was quick to cast doubt on it. “I will soon be reviewing the plan that Iran has just sent to us, but
A group affiliated with indicted Chinese immigrant Xu Chunying (徐春鶯) is to be dissolved for monitoring Chinese immigrants in Taiwan, a source said yesterday. Xu, the secretary-general of the Cross-Strait Marriage and Family Service Alliance, was indicted on March 24 on charges of violating the Anti-Infiltration Act (反滲透法). The alliance “illegally monitored" Chinese immigrants living in Taiwan on behalf of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) and the Ministry of the Interior is expected to dissolve the organization in the coming days under provisions of the Civil Associations Act (人民團體法), the source said. Xu, who married a Taiwanese in 1993 and became a Republic
RSS