TOKYO, Japan – Amid rising tensions over a possible Chinese invasion of Taiwan, the Japanese are building up their armed forces.
CBN News traveled to a Japanese island hot spot with an uncertain future where Japanese and American troops are preparing for war. The joint military exercises, which took place here in June, are the largest held on Japanese soil since World War II.
Increasing threats from China have the entire Pacific rim worried the Red Army could soon move on Taiwan, less than 140 miles from Japan’s shores.
In the same area, Chinese Coast Guard ships have been encroaching on Japanese waters almost weekly, and to counter this threat, U.S., Japanese, and Philippine Coast Guard ships recently held maneuvers of their own.
Ishigaki Island is normally a popular tourist destination. But it could soon become a battleground.
This year will be the biggest year for tourists here on Ishigaki Island that they’ve seen since COVID. And that’s a really good thing for the economy of the island. But what the people that live here are most worried about is an influx of another kind of people caused by an attack on Taiwan.
“We are concerned about an influx of refugees in the event of an attack, because we are the closest island to Taiwan,” Ishigaki’s mayor told us.
“I believe this is an example of China trying to change the status quo by force.”
To counter the threat, more soldiers are being moved to bases in the south of Japan.
A new military base just opened here on Ishigaki Island, and it’s one of the closest ones to the Chinese coast and to Taiwan. It’s one of four bases that’s been built recently to counter the threat from China. This one will be home to more than 500 troops.
Most of the people on this island are very pro military and very happy to have this base here. But some people are not, and it’s not so much about the base itself – it’s the kind of troops that they plan to station here.
Locals have been staging protests because they fear the presence of Japanese rocket artillery batteries would only make the island a target.
The mayor said, “Some say it will increase tensions, but I believe it is necessary to strengthen our defenses.”
At least one former Japanese General agrees. Lt. Gen. Kunio Orita said, “If Taiwan is annexed, the Chinese army will be stationed there, and we could lose control of the sea lanes that provide 60% of Japan’s energy and 40% of its food. So there is already an emergency in Taiwan, and an emergency in Taiwan is an emergency in Japan.”
But that doesn’t mean Japan is looking for a fight.
Japanese journalist Masako Ganaha explained, “So Japan, it seemed to be building up more troops or military. But if you were to ask any of those people visiting Yasukuni Shrine and came here to pray for the war years, then their minds, they don’t think about war. Like if you ask, what do you think about war? Almost all of the people would say, ‘No way’.”
“So it’s not like, ‘Oh, we wanted to fight.’ No, we want peace. So we want to pay respect and peace. So we come here wanting for peace.”
Lt. Gen. Kunio Orita said, “No matter how likely there is to be a war, our job is to stop it, to ensure Xi does not miscalculate like Putin did. The point is that if China invades Taiwan, the United States and Japan will have the ability to counter that together.”
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