Tokyo, March 16 Japan is assessing the deployment of long-range missiles on the southwestern island of Kyushu aimed at bolstering the security of the country's southwestern Nansei island chain.
This move is strategically important for the island chain's proximity to Taiwan, amid growing fears that the self-ruled democratic island may be invaded by China, local media reported.
The deployment, which is expected to start at the end of the next financial year in March 2026, is part of the country's efforts to acquire "counterstrike capabilities" to hit enemy targets in the event of an emergency, Japanese media outlet Kyodo News reported, quoting government sources.
China claims Taiwan to be a part of its territory that must be reunified with the mainland by force if necessary. Last week, China warned Japan not to interfere in Taiwan affairs.
Addressing a news conference in Beijing, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi, stated that the one-China principle, which defines Taiwan as an inalienable part of China, and warned that there are people claiming that "a contingency in Taiwan would amount to a contingency for Japan," but "to provoke trouble in the name of Taiwan is to invite trouble for Japan."
Wang also stressed that for more than a thousand years, China has meant opportunities, not threats, for Japan, and warned Tokyo concerning historical interpretations and Taiwan, reports NHK World Japan.
Recently, in an interview in Taipei with Japan's leading newspaper, The Japan Times, Taiwanese Deputy Foreign Minister Francois Chih-chung Wu said that he hopes the island democracy can strengthen ties with Japan and other like-minded nations "at every level."
As China's military becomes increasingly assertive in the Indo-Pacific, including the holding of larger and more frequent operations around Taiwan, Wu said that he welcomes Tokyo's decision to bolster its defence capabilities and take on a greater role in regional security.
This large role has been highlighted by Japan's deepening network of regional partnerships and the unprecedented transit of Japanese warships through the Taiwan Strait in recent months.
"We see an evolution. We see that Japan is becoming more and more involved in regional security issues, and strongly welcome this initiative," Japan Times quoted Wu as saying.
Asserting that Beijing will be more hesitant to target Taiwan if it realises that other countries in the region and beyond are invested in its defence or at least maintaining a stable status quo, he stated the best thing Tokyo can do for Taiwan and regional stability at the moment is to continue defending its own national interests and opposing changes to the status quo by force.
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