New US-Japan missile plan envisions Chinese invasion of Taiwan

WASHINGTON

The US plan to deploy sophisticated missiles on a chain of Japanese islands near Taiwan is drawing angry reactions from China and its close ally Russia.

The United States is developing a joint military plan with Japan to deploy high mobility artillery rocket systems (HIMARS) and other weapons to Japan's Nansei Islands, according to a report published Sunday by Kyodo News, citing sources anonymous. The plan is expected to be completed by December.

The island chain stretches from Japan's main islands out to 200 kilometers from Taiwan and includes Okinawa, where there is a large US military presence. The United States could use these missiles to defend Taiwan in the event of a Chinese invasion of the self-ruled island, which Beijing considers a renegade province.

The plan, the first joint U.S.-Japanese operation to prepare for war between Taiwan and China, will involve sending a U.S. Marine Corps regiment equipped with HIMARS and establishing temporary bases on the Nansei Islands to station them, Kyodo said. The Japan Self-Defense Forces are expected to provide logistical support, including fuel and ammunition.

A Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson criticized the plan at a press conference on Monday, saying that China opposes relevant countries using the Taiwan issue as an excuse to increase military deployment in the region, increase tensions and confrontation and disrupt regional peace and stability.

Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova responded with a stronger statement, warning that her country would respond to the deployment with necessary and proportionate measures to strengthen its defense capabilities, according to Russian news agency Tass. Wednesday.

We have repeatedly warned the Japanese side that if, through such cooperation, American medium-range missiles emerge on its territory, this will pose a real threat to the security of our country, Zakharova said.

Tass also quoted Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov urging Washington to reconsider missile deployment in the Asia-Pacific region. He warned that Moscow would not rule out stationing short- and medium-range missiles in Asia in response to the US deployment.

Earlier in November, Russian President Vladimir Putin said that China was Russia's ally and that Taiwan was part of China, and that China's conduct of war games near the island was political entirely reasonable while Taipei is exacerbating tensions.

While Russia and China do not have a formal military treaty, Putin and Chinese leader Xi Jinping have spoken of a no-holds-barred partnership, and the United States accuses China of supporting Russia's war efforts against Ukraine.

U.S. Secretary Antony Blinken told a news conference at the G7 meeting in Italy on Tuesday that China's support for Russia's defense industry allows Russia to continue its aggression against Ukraine.

US-Japanese missile plan

Despite Moscow's alarming rhetoric, analysts say the HIMARS deployment in the region is primarily aimed at protecting Taiwan from Chinese warships.

The most important goal of HIMARS would be to have an anti-ship capability and protect the island and base itself, said Michael O'Hanlon, a senior fellow at the Brookings Institution.

Navy Adm. Samuel Paparo, commander of the U.S. Indo-Pacific Command, said last week at a forum hosted by the Brookings Institution that China conducted its largest rehearsal of this last summer. day in preparation for an invasion of Taiwan involving 152 ships. He warned that the United States must be ready.

The Chinese People's Liberation Army (PLA) Navy has the world's largest naval force with more than 370 ships and submarines, while the United States has approximately 290 ships.

A look at the Chinese invasion

Timothy Heath, senior international defense researcher at RAND Corp., said HIMARS on the Nansei Islands could help sink amphibious landing ships as well as destroyers and other PLA Navy ships that could approach the island from the north and also target PLA troop concentrations on beaches near Taipei.

Heath continued: The fielding of these weapon systems shows that the United States and its allies are learning lessons from the Ukraine theater, where HIMARS were effectively deployed against Russia.

The United States also plans to deploy Multi-Domain Task Force (MDTS) long-range fire units to the Philippines, Kyodo News reported on Sunday. The MDTS uses HIMARS as long-range fire units.

Deploying HIMARS to the Nansei Islands and long-range fire units to the Philippines will impose higher costs on China, said Ryo Hinata-Yamaguchi, associate professor at the Institute of International Strategy at the International University of China. Tokyo and non-resident senior fellow at Atlantic Councils Indo. -Pacific Security Initiative.

These two locations are key to deterring China's aggressive actions not only in the Taiwan Strait and the East China Seas, but also Beijing's ambitions in the Pacific. However, China can be expected to do more to surpass these measures by strengthening its military preparedness and carrying out more assertive activities in the years to come, he said.

Taiwan and the Philippines, along with Japan and Indonesia, make up what China calls the first island chain potentially blocking its military access to the Pacific.

US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin concluded a nine-day trip to the Indo-Pacific on Monday after a series of meetings with the defense chiefs of countries in the region, including Japan, the Philippines, Australia and South Korea.

During these meetings, Japan agreed to increase its participation in the annual trilateral amphibious training with the United States and Australia. The Philippines agreed to share military intelligence by signing a General Security of Military Information Agreement (GSOMIA) with the United States.

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