The Japan Ground Self-Defense Force recently deployed a newly created ground-to-surface missile company that is to be based in Uruma City, Okinawa Prefecture, while expanding an electronic warfare unit on Yonaguni Island, Japan’s closest island to Taiwan.
A report by Kyodo News on Thursday said that the deployment was to bolster Japan’s defenses in its southwestern region in case sudden incidents occur around Taiwan.
The report said that the new company was named the 7 ground-to-surface missile company and is tasked with defending Miyakojima City, Ishigaki City and Amami Oshima Island.
Photo: AP
However, the report said that the Ground Self-Defense Force’s decision has raised discontent amongst the local populace, with 70 residents gathering in front of the force’s Camp Katsuren in protest on Thursday.
Opposition representatives said that if Okinawa residents accepted the company’s deployment without opposition, “there is no telling how the company will be reinforced,” adding that Okinawa should not become a weapon of war, the report said.
The report said that an electronic warfare unit, about 40 people strong, was deployed from Kumamoto Prefecture to Yonaguni to jam or interfere with hostile forces’ signals and radar stations.
Meanwhile, Yonaguni Island has been the home base of a 160-person electronic warfare unit since 2016, primarily tasked with monitoring the movements of nearby ships, the report added.
The Yonaguni garrison is expected to expand its base eastward, with a shooting range and munitions warehouse built in the new areas and facilities to house a planned deployment of a surface-to-air missile company, it said.
Ground Self-Defense Force Chief of Staff Yasunori Morishita told Kyodo News that the newly created unit would strengthen the force’s ability to react and deter a potential invasion by hostile forces.
Morishita said the force would explain to residents why the units’ deployment is necessary to safeguard Japan’s southwestern region.
FALSE DOCUMENTS? Actor William Liao said he was ‘voluntarily cooperating’ with police after a suspect was accused of helping to produce false medical certificates Police yesterday questioned at least six entertainers amid allegations of evasion of compulsory military service, with Lee Chuan (李銓), a member of boy band Choc7 (超克7), and actor Daniel Chen (陳大天) among those summoned. The New Taipei City District Prosecutors’ Office in January launched an investigation into a group that was allegedly helping men dodge compulsory military service using falsified medical documents. Actor Darren Wang (王大陸) has been accused of being one of the group’s clients. As the investigation expanded, investigators at New Taipei City’s Yonghe Precinct said that other entertainers commissioned the group to obtain false documents. The main suspect, a man surnamed
DEMOGRAPHICS: Robotics is the most promising answer to looming labor woes, the long-term care system and national contingency response, an official said Taiwan is to launch a five-year plan to boost the robotics industry in a bid to address labor shortages stemming from a declining and aging population, the Executive Yuan said yesterday. The government approved the initiative, dubbed the Smart Robotics Industry Promotion Plan, via executive order, senior officials told a post-Cabinet meeting news conference in Taipei. Taiwan’s population decline would strain the economy and the nation’s ability to care for vulnerable and elderly people, said Peter Hong (洪樂文), who heads the National Science and Technology Council’s (NSTC) Department of Engineering and Technologies. Projections show that the proportion of Taiwanese 65 or older would
Democracies must remain united in the face of a shifting geopolitical landscape, former president Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) told the Copenhagen Democracy Summit on Tuesday, while emphasizing the importance of Taiwan’s security to the world. “Taiwan’s security is essential to regional stability and to defending democratic values amid mounting authoritarianism,” Tsai said at the annual forum in the Danish capital. Noting a “new geopolitical landscape” in which global trade and security face “uncertainty and unpredictability,” Tsai said that democracies must remain united and be more committed to building up resilience together in the face of challenges. Resilience “allows us to absorb shocks, adapt under
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) yesterday said it is building nine new advanced wafer manufacturing and packaging factories this year, accelerating its expansion amid strong demand for high-performance computing (HPC) and artificial intelligence (AI) applications. The chipmaker built on average five factories per year from 2021 to last year and three from 2017 to 2020, TSMC vice president of advanced technology and mask engineering T.S. Chang (張宗生) said at the company’s annual technology symposium in Hsinchu City. “We are quickening our pace even faster in 2025. We plan to build nine new factories, including eight wafer fabrication plants and one advanced
RSS