Japan has issued a strong warning regarding China's fast-growing military activities from its southwestern coastal area to the Pacific, characterizing these developments as being the most serious strategic threat it is facing now.
In its latest defence white paper, handed to the Cabinet on Tuesday, Japan's Defence Ministry voiced increasing concern at China's increasing military cooperation with Russia, tensions in the Taiwan region, and persistent threats posed by North Korea.
"The international society is in a new crisis era as it faces the biggest challenges since the end of World War II," the report noted, underscoring concerns about the evolving global power dynamics and intensifying friction between China and the United States.
The report emphasized that these new threats are focused in the Indo-Pacific — the exact region where Japan is located — and cautioned that the security situation may further worsen in the future.
To prepare for possible confrontation, especially in the Taiwan Strait, Japan has been strengthening its defense position on its southernmost islands, including the scheduled deployment of long-range cruise missiles. The report connects the buildup with increasing concern that China will attempt to forcibly take over Taiwan, which it believes belongs to it. Against such threats, Taiwan recently held a 10-day live-fire military exercise, and Japan fired a short-range surface-to-ship missile last month.
Chinese naval movements in the Pacific have also increased sharply. The report found that the frequency of passages by Chinese warships in waters close to southwestern Japan has tripled during the last three years, with more recent movement in the waters between Taiwan and Japan's Yonaguni Island.
The report release follows closely on the heels of Japan accusing China of flying fighter jets uncomfortably close to Japanese surveillance planes—bouts that Tokyo asserts are increasingly frequent and increase the chances of mid-air collisions. China has, however, retaliated against the claim, accusing Japan of conducting surveillance within its air space.
Most remarkably, two such encounters occurred in June across the Pacific Ocean, where Japan saw for the first time two Chinese aircraft carriers simultaneously operating.
China's sending of aircraft carriers into the Pacific is a part of its wider plan to project naval power beyond its coastlines, the report indicated. It also mentioned China's repeated bomber operations over long ranges in the Pacific with increasingly sophisticated flight routes, viewing these as a show of Beijing's developing capabilities close to Japan.
The white paper also mentioned two concrete incidents last year: one when a Chinese warplane momentarily crossed into Japanese air space close to the city of Nagasaki, and another when a Chinese aircraft carrier sailed waters just outside Japanese waters close to the southwestern Nansei island chain, which runs from Kyushu down to Taiwan.
Noting these trends, the report also referred to an evolving regional security balance in light of changes in U.S. foreign policy. "With President Donald Trump prioritizing strengthening the U.S. economy and security, Japan and other allies of the U.S. are being expected to take a larger role for peace and stability in the region," it said.
The report also highlighted the advancements of North Korea's missiles as "an increasingly serious and imminent threat" to Japan. It particularly pointed out Pyongyang's attempts at nuclear-armed missiles that can target Japan and even the U.S. mainland using solid-fuel intercontinental ballistic missiles.
Lastly, the report touched on Russia's military stance, mentioning continued operations in the proximity of Japan and the intrusion into Japanese airspace last September. It cautioned that further intensifying of strategic relationships between Russia and China has become "strong concern" for Japan's national security.
