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Kyodo Chinese: Japan and the U.S. Drafted Combat Plans for Emergencies in Taiwan

Major Japanese news agency Kyodo recently reported in its Chinese edition that sources close to the Japanese government have confirmed that the Japanese military and the U.S. military have formulated a draft of a new Japan-U.S. joint operations plan that envisages emergencies in Taiwan. The contents include that, in the initial stage of the emergency, the U.S. Marine Corps will set up temporary military bases for offensive purposes on the Ryukyu Islands – from Kagoshima Prefecture to Okinawa Prefecture. Local residents are likely to be involved in the fighting. It is expected that, at the Japan-U.S. Security Consultative Committee (2+2) meeting attended by foreign affairs and defense ministers to be held early next year, a consensus will be reached on officially starting operations for the formal formulation of plans. Normally, no new bases would be built. However, in the initial stage as the urgency of emergencies in Taiwan increases, the U.S. troops will be deployed with the support of the Japanese military. The establishment of U.S. military bases in Japan requires the Japanese government to make policy decisions and improve relevant laws on land use and protection of local residents. In the joint statement of the Japan-US summit meeting in April this year, Taiwan Strait Stability was included after about half a century. The two sides secretly advanced discussions on the formulation of a joint combat plan.

Source: Kyodo Chinese, December 23, 2021
https://china.kyodonews.net/news/2021/12/544994c0a929.html