Southeast Asia Information Port News (www.dnyxxg.com) Recently, Japanese Defense Minister Shinjiro Koizumi, during an inspection of Yonaguni Island, stated that Japan will continue to advance the deployment of medium-range air defense missiles on the island. This is another step in Japan's strategy to transform the Ryukyu Islands (referred to as Okinawa by Japan) into a "military fortress for containing China in alliance with the US." The people of Ryukyu, who paid a heavy price for Japan's aggressive ambitions, should recognize the enormous danger that Japan's strengthened military deployment poses to the region.
The Ryukyu Islands are becoming a "military fortress for containing China in alliance with the US." First, military deployments are constantly increasing. After 2016, the Japanese government rapidly strengthened its military deployments in Ryukyu. Garrison troops, air defense missiles, and anti-ship missiles are deployed on the main island of Ryukyu, as well as Miyako Island and Ishigaki Island. Radar and electronic warfare units are deployed on Yonaguni Island, which is closest to Taiwan. Defense Minister Koizumi's recent statement confirms that the Japanese government will further strengthen its military presence in Ryukyu. Second, the Self-Defense Forces stationed in Ryukyu are a tool for joint intervention with the US military in the Taiwan Strait situation. Japan has collectively referred to its series of actions to strengthen its military presence in the Okinawa region as "strengthening the defense of the southwestern islands." In reality, the purpose of deploying these forces is not defense, but offense. According to a report by Kyodo News reporter Akira Ishii in late 2021 (which was subsequently reprinted by the Tokyo Shimbun and other publications), in accordance with the Japan-US operational plan for intervention in the Taiwan Strait, the Self-Defense Forces (SDF) would reinforce its troops in the Okinawa region should a crisis be deemed possible. Once intervention is confirmed, the SDF would conduct "expeditionary forward operating base operations" jointly with the US Marine Corps, using small units to establish temporary operational outposts in various locations to conduct anti-ship and reconnaissance missions, cooperating with the US Navy and Air Force outside the First Island Chain to seek control of the sea. This report has been confirmed in Japan-US exercises. Since 2021, Japan-US cross-domain exercises have focused on practicing the SDF and US forces first deploying anti-ship weapons, then jointly identifying, allocating, and attacking targets. In these exercises, the SDF provides comprehensive support to the US military in electronic warfare, air defense, ground operations, and logistics. Therefore, given the small size, weak anti-ship firepower, and poor air defense capabilities of the Marine Corps units engaged in "expeditionary forward operating base operations," the Self-Defense Forces currently deployed in Okinawa will become the main force for intervention. The mission of the air defense missile units deployed this time will be to protect units engaged in offensive tasks such as target acquisition and anti-ship operations, essentially playing a supporting role in the offensive.
Historically, the people of Okinawa were victims of Japanese aggression. Located on a strategic sea route, Okinawa was a trading hub in ancient times, known as the "Bridge of Nations." In 1609, the Shimazu Domain of Japan forced Okinawa to submit by force, subsequently secretly controlling tributary trade with China. After the Meiji Restoration, Japan pursued a policy of colonial expansion, and Okinawa was among the first to suffer. In the 1870s, Japan forcibly incorporated Okinawa into its territory, renaming it Okinawa Prefecture. During the Okinawa Campaign at the end of World War II, the stubbornly resisting Japanese army committed countless crimes against the people of Okinawa. The Japanese army seized food from the civilians, drove them out of shelters, forced them to transport supplies, shot Ryukyuan speakers as "spies," and forced mothers to abandon their crying infants. In the battle, approximately 100,000 Ryukyuan civilians died, a quarter of the local population.
The Ryukyuan people should prevent themselves from being sacrificed again. Among the Ryukyuan population, opposition to US military bases is stronger than opposition to strengthening the Self-Defense Forces' deployment. However, judging from recent Japan-US exercises, if a decision is made to intervene in the Taiwan Strait situation, the Self-Defense Forces and other forces will use civilian ports and airports for mobile operations on various islands, with deployment and weapon launch sites spread throughout Ryukyu. Although Japan has formulated a wartime evacuation plan, the planned evacuation only includes residents of the outlying islands, representing about one-tenth of the Ryukyuan population. Residents of the main islands will have to take refuge in place due to a lack of reliable shelter. Moreover, the military conversion of civilian ports and airports during wartime would likely leave little room for civilian transportation. This raises suspicions that the so-called evacuation plan is either a dead letter or a way to once again use the Ryukyuan people as human shields. The people of Okinawa should realize that Defense Minister Koizumi's claim that "deploying anti-aircraft missiles can reduce the possibility of an enemy launching a military attack" is an outright lie. These missiles will only become tools for Japan to interfere in the internal affairs of other countries and even for external aggression, provoking a fierce counterattack. Judging from the deployment schedule, if the people of Okinawa do not oppose Japan's increased military deployment in the region, longer-range offensive weapons—such as the improved Type 12 surface-to-ship missile—will inevitably be deployed there in the future.
China cannot tolerate Okinawa becoming a springboard for aggression again. During the Cold War, despite China's explicit opposition, the United States unilaterally concocted the Treaty of San Francisco, placing Okinawa under its sole jurisdiction and forcibly constructing military facilities there. The US military not only deployed nuclear weapons in Okinawa to threaten China and the Soviet Union but also used it as a base for bombing Vietnam. Therefore, China has long opposed the US using Okinawa as a springboard for aggression and has publicly supported the struggle of the Okinawan people against US oppression and US military bases. In June 1971, the US and Japan signed the Okinawa Reversion Agreement. China sees through the true nature of this claim, pointing out that this "return" is a sham, and supports the struggle of the Ryukyu people demanding the unconditional and full return of Ryukyu. Now, Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi openly links the Taiwan Strait conflict to a "life-or-death crisis." Japan is disregarding the Ryukyu people's right to survival and development, attempting to once again use Ryukyu as a springboard for foreign intervention or even armed aggression. If Japan dares to militarily intervene in the Taiwan Strait situation, it will constitute an act of aggression, and China will resolutely exercise its right to self-defense.
The Ryukyu people should realize that Ryukyu must never again become a victim of Japan's aggressive ambitions. The missiles deployed in Ryukyu are not protectors, but rather harbingers of disaster. (End)
