Japan Prepares for War With New Joint Command, Evacuation Plans

Tokyo Increasingly Alarmed by Prospect of an Invasion of Neighbor Taiwan by China

- Walter Sim

TOKYO - The contours of Japan's war plans are becoming clearer as the Defence Ministry in recent weeks launched its Joint Operations Command, or JJOC, and confirmed its first evacuation plans for Okinawa civilians.

Japan has, in recent years, already been deploying missile units to its south-west to bolster its so-called "counterstrike capabilities". As the next step, it intends to station surface-to-air missiles on Yonaguni - the country's westernmost point, located 2,000km from Tokyo but just 110km from Taiwan.

It also reportedly aims to install long-range anti-ship missiles on Kyushu from around March 2026, which will put North Korea and coastal Chinese cities such as Shanghai within the crosshairs.

Japan has not explicitly confirmed or denied that it will defend self-ruling Taiwan, which is regarded by China as a renegade province to be taken by force if necessary. Tokyo does not recognise the Taipei government under the "one China" principle.

But these defence developments come as Japan is increasingly alarmed by the prospect of an invasion of Taiwan, which it deems an existential threat. Like its security ally the United States, Japan considers China its biggest security menace.

"Japan has to defend not only its nation but also its surrounding area for its national security," Dr Tosh Minohara, who chairs the Research Institute for Indo-Pacific Affairs think-tank, told The Straits Times.

"In other words, Japan cannot allow a hostile power to take over Taiwan, as this would really damage its national interests," he said, adding: "Japan cannot be afraid of antagonising China. It must prepare for the worst and hope for the best."

Such thinking was behind Japan's formation of JJOC, an integrated command that streamlines operations by unifying the command of the ground, maritime and air branches of the Self-Defence Forces (SDF).