Japan’s Ministry of Defense began transporting June 9 a missile launcher for Type 12 surface-to-air missiles and other equipment to Minamitorishima, the country’s easternmost island in the Pacific Ocean, approximately 2,000 km (1,200 miles) southeast of Tokyo. The Japanese plan to build a missile firing range and conduct live fire exercises, reports Japan’s NHK (Japan Broadcasting Corporation), as reported by the June 9 Global Times.
The Type 12 long-range missile is for firing at and sinking ships. As well, the Japanese MOD shipped medium-sized unmanned reconnaissance aircraft for target surveillance, to arrive in Minamitorishima. Zhang Junshe, a Chinese military affairs expert, told the Global Times June 10 that “the deployment of such missiles on the island marks Japan’s establishment of a forward outpost for long-range strikes, posing a threat to foreign vessels navigating normally in the Western Pacific.” Zhang further explained that Japan has already deployed seven surface-to-ship missile units stretching from Hokkaido to the Ryukyu Island, which he states, together with the long-range missiles on Minamitorishima, form a “long range strategic strike network.”
Wang Yunfei, another Chinese military affairs expert said that these deployment actions go far beyond the scope of defense, amounting to offensive military expansion. China has charged Japan that it has resumed “remilitarization,” as it did in the 1930s and 1940s.
