Defense ministry eyes missile deployment on main Okinawa island

March 19, 2018

Tokyo- Japan's Defense Ministry is considering deploying land-to-ship missiles on the main island of Okinawa Prefecture, southernmost Japan, given Chinese warships' repeated navigation in waters between the main Okinawa island and Miyakojima, another island in the prefecture, informed sources said Sunday.

The ministry has been proceeding with a plan to deploy the 200-kilometer-range missiles on Miyakojima, Ishigakijima, also in Okinawa, and Amamioshima, an island in the southwestern prefecture of Kagoshima.

Because the main Okinawa island is some 300 kilometers away from Miyakojima, some waters between the two islands will be out of the range of the missiles to be positioned on Miyakojima, ministry officials pointed out.

China recognizes the passage between the two islands, called Miyako Strait, as a "defense line" to stop the US forces' advance in a military contingency. It is also a strategic route for the Chinese military to expand into the Pacific Ocean.

Japan spotted four Chinese naval ships passing through the strait in November 2008 and a Chinese aircraft carrier doing so in December 2016. In January this year, a submarine believed to be of the Chinese navy was found to be cruising underwater in a contiguous zone around Miyakojima. Flights of Chinese warplanes including bombers over the strait have also been confirmed.

As China is trying to enable its air and naval forces to carry out operations far from its mainland with a view to controlling the western Pacific and the skies over the sea, Japan needs to strengthen its defense capacities on the Ryukyu Islands, including Okinawa, a senior ministry official said. Jiji Press