The argument that the Taiwan Strait is approaching the brink of war in the next few years has been frequently raised recently. In the face of a possible conflict, the neighboring Japan, although unable to directly send troops based on the principle of military self-defense, still has its important value in international strategy.
Comprehensive international media March 27 news, the U.S. India Pacific Fleet Commander John Aquilino, 23 in the Senate Armed Services Committee, said, “I think it’s more imminent than most people think,” confirming that U.S. officials for China and Taiwan to occur in the Taiwan Strait military conflict of concern The Senate Armed Services Committee said on Sunday, “I think it’s more imminent than most people think. However, Aquilino reiterated that “a strong U.S.-Japan alliance will be the foundation of the Indo-Pacific strategy. He also called on Congress to provide an additional $27 billion budget for the Indo-Pacific Fleet over six years, starting in 2022.
Japan and Taiwan are both located in the first island chain, and their position in the U.S.-Japan Indo-Pacific strategy is quite important. However, China has intensified its military threat in the East China Sea and South China Sea in recent years, and the risk of conflict in these waters is rising. The number of Chinese military aircraft circling around Taiwan is also increasing as China’s relations with Europe and the United States are deteriorating.
Japan has a U.S. military presence, and U.S. forces and the Self-Defense Forces monitor Chinese operations around the clock. The U.S. Kadena Base in Okinawa Prefecture is the largest U.S. military base in the Far East, with more than 20,000 U.S. troops stationed there. However, in the event that a conflict does break out in the Taiwan Strait, I am afraid it will be swift and Japan may be on standby.
In addition, according to informed sources, in the event of a conflict in the Taiwan Strait, Japan will deploy its self-defense forces to the highest limits of its territorial waters and airspace to warn the PLA, even if it cannot help explicitly.
In particular, the current Japanese Defense Minister Nobuo Kishi, is quite well-known “pro-Taiwan”, and has made many statements about the situation in Taiwan and Hong Kong in the past.
Japan’s “Sankei Shimbun” also analyzed that China would use a large number of missiles to attack Taiwan, and in fact the Okinawa U.S. military base is also the target of missile attacks. In the past, The Japanese government in the Abe Shinzo period, there are considered to develop “hostile base attack capability” missile system, but later because of this system “is not a self-defense authority” of the controversy, so the discussion was temporarily shelved.
Some experts believe that Japan cannot play a proactive role and can only keep calling for maintaining the status quo as a better option for both China and Taiwan.
According to Kyodo News on March 27, former Prime Minister Abe said Japan has become the frontline of the U.S.-China confrontation. He said in a speech at a meeting of the Niigata Prefectural Federation of the Liberal Democratic Party in Niigata City on March 27 that the Asian region, including Japan, has become the front line of confrontation between the United States and China. He said on his policy toward China, “We need to commit to a foreign and security policy with the understanding and mental preparation that the Indo-Pacific region has become a front line.”
Abe also noted, “The important area in U.S. diplomatic and security strategy has moved to the Indo-Pacific. This means that the Japan-U.S. Security treaty has become really important.”
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