Countering CCP Military Threat, Japan Establishing Defense in Okinawa

Members of the Japan Ground Self-Defense Force (JGSDF) take the Japanese national flag down in the early evening at JGSDF Miyako camp on Miyako Island, Okinawa prefecture, Japan, on April 20, 2022. (Issei Kato/Reuters)

Following the late Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s principle that “A Taiwan emergency is a Japanese emergency,” Japan will set up an Okinawa Defense Corps to counter Beijing’s military threat.

Japan’s Defense Ministry will establish an Okinawa Defense Group in the Ground Self-Defense Force (GSDF) as a new unit at the heart of the defense of the Nansei Islands, Japan media reported on Dec. 3.

The new unit will be deployed to the GSDF’s 15th Brigade (Naha, Okinawa) and is expected to be complete by 2027. The policy on the new Defense Force will be incorporated into the Defense Force Development Plan and approved by Cabinet before the end of 2022.

The 15th Brigade, formed in 2010 and based in the Naha Garrison district, has about 2,000 troops, including a general infantry company, an air defense special company, and a reconnaissance unit. The ministry plans to add an infantry company and upgrade the 15th Brigade to the Okinawa Defense Group. The new group will be bumped up to about 3,000 strong and continue to be stationed in Naha.

A U.S. MH-60S Sea Hawk flies by Japan's Maritime Self-Defense Force ship J.S. Shimakaze above waters around Okinawa southwest of the Korean peninsula on Oct. 9, 2017. (U.S. Navy via Reuters)

The Japan Self-Defense Force (JSDF) combat forces are roughly divided into nine divisions and six equivalent brigades, but the new group will be positioned somewhere in between. The Japanese Defense Ministry decided that it was necessary to upgrade from a brigade to a group army to strengthen the defence of the Nansei Islands near Taiwan as Beijing threatens a military “reunification” with the island.

Expert: Japanese Government Following Abe’s Principle

The move shows that the Japanese government is putting into action what the late Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said last year according to Yang Si, a doctor from the Chinese Academy of Sciences who now lives in Japan.

In the past, the JSDF mainly defended against the Soviet Union and later Russia, and didn’t regard the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) as a major threat. Thus the JSDF has limited military power in Okinawa. The fact that Japan is now ramping up its military presence around Okinawa suggests that it has started to see the CCP as a major threat, Yang told The Epoch Times on Dec. 8.

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The JSDF established a new garrison on Yongagunijima Island in March 2016 and Miyako Island in March 2019. A new garrison on Ishigaki Island will be completed by 2023. While Japan’s Coast Guard and security forces are stationed in the islands to protect the border, even the largest Miyako Island garrison has only about 700 troops.

The establishment of the Okinawa Defense Group will enable troops to deploy from the main island of Okinawa to various remote islands in case of an emergency until the support troops arrive, and thereby enhance deterrence.

Japanese Coast Guard ships are shown near the Senkaku islands, also called the Diaoyu islands. Territorial disputes between China and Japan over the islands are growing more tense. (AP Photo/Emily Wang)

The CCP has expressed strong dissatisfaction with Japan’s move, saying that Japan’s increased defense spending and military expansion “threaten” peace and stability in the Asia-Pacific region.

China’s Foreign Minister Wang Yi also warned Japan not to cross the line on sensitive issues such as Taiwan.

“The CCP always crosses the line but never reflects on itself. It also brainwashes its own people and teaches them to hate and resent Japan and the United States; but the Japanese people are closer to the United States,” Mr. Murakami, an employee of Osaka City Business Association in Japan, told The Epoch Times on Dec. 7,

“[Japanese] trust and rely on the United States, and hope that Japan’s trade and economy will get rid of its dependence on China as soon as possible.”

China Expert: Xi Needs a Foreign Enemy to Divert Attention

Speaking at a Nov. 29 event at the Institute of World Politics (IWP), Gordon Chang, author of “The Coming Collapse of China,” said Xi Jinping is implementing the fastest military buildup since World War II, but the U.S. political and military establishment is not taking Xi’s war plans seriously and lacks a sense of urgency.

Chang believes that Xi Jinping needs a foreign enemy, such as Taiwan and Japan, to take Chinese people’s attention from him and his leadership.

“In order to distract and divert the attention of domestic protesters, the CCP habitually sets up imaginary enemies, and even the pandemic is said to be a foreign power,” Xu Ning (a pseudonym), a teacher in Shanghai, told The Epoch Times on Aug. 8.

However, the Chinese people are still suffering under the long-standing Zero-COVID policy measures.

“All industries are depressed. Many businesses have gone bankrupt in the pandemic,” Xu said. “People are desperate, students are confused, and migrant workers are even more helpless, as they are unable to return home and are staying in the cold prefab houses, which is an unforgettable feeling.”