TokYO Kyodo Japan's self-defense force and the U.S. military have drawn up a draft joint operation plan that would allow the establishment of an attack base along the Nansei island chain in the country's southwest in the event of a Taiwan contingency, according to Japanese government sources.
Japan and the United States will likely agree to work to formalize an operation plan when their foreign and defense chiefs meet in early January under the two-plus- two framework, according to sources told Kyodo News by Thursday.
The development is likely to draw a backlash from China, which regards the self-ruled island of Taiwan as a renegade province to be reunited with the mainland, by force if necessary.
The U.S. Marines will set up a temporary attack base in the initial stage of a contingency on the Nansei Islands, a chain stretching southwest from the Japanese prefectures of Kagoshima and Okinawa toward Taiwan. Okinawa hosts the bulk of U.S. military installations in Japan.
The US military will get support from the SDF to send troops to the islands if a Taiwan crisis comes to an end, the sources said.
Such a deployment would make the islands the target of attack by China's military, putting the lives of residents at risk. The sources said that legal changes would be needed in Japan to realize the plan.
Japan's SDF and the U.S. forces have around 40 candidate sites along the Nansei chain, which consists of around 200 islands, including uninhabited ones.
Most of the sites have residents and islands where the SDF has deployed or plans to deploy missile units - Amami-Oshima, Miyako and Ishigaki near the Senkaku Islands controlled by Japan, but claimed by China are among the candidates, the sources said.
As longtime security allies, Japan and the United States have been strengthening defense cooperation and boosting the interoperability of the SDF and the U.S. military. They face threats from China's military buildup and assertive moves at sea as well as North Korea's nuclear and missile development.
The U.S. Marine Corps has expeditionary advanced base operation manuals to dispatch Marines in small formations to necessary locations, apparently in view of China's assertive moves.
The Japanese government sources said that the U.S. Indo-Pacific Command had proposed to the SDF to create a joint operation plan.
The U.S. military will set up a temporary base if the Japanese government judges that conflict between the Chinese and Taiwan militaries will undermine the peace and security of Japan, if left as is, the sources said.
In such a scenario, the U.S. military will deploy its high mobility artillery rocket system to a temporary base location, while the SDF will provide logistical support by providing ammunition and fuel. The sources said that the U.S. Marines will change base locations to prevent coming under attack.
The United States has been hardening its stance on China as they compete for economic, technological and military superiority. Japan has seen its relations with China frayed over history and the Senkakus, a group of uninhabited islands in the East China SeaChina Sea.
Japan and the United States stressed the importance of peace and stability in the Taiwan Strait when their leaders met in April, underscoring heightened vigilance. It was the first time in half a century for the two nations to mention Taiwan in a statement.
The United States would be there for Taiwan if China turned to the use of force.
During a Taiwan think-tank event in early December, former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said that any Taiwan contingency would also be an emergency for Japan and the Japan-U.