Naha: Japanese Defense Minister Minoru Kihara on Saturday inspected the Air Self-Defense Force’s Naha Air Base in Okinawa Prefecture, which is tasked with air defense in the Nansei southwestern region.

“The Okinawa main island is located in a key location in terms of national security,” Kihara told members of the ASDF base, the country’s front line in dealing with the Chinese military’s increasingly hegemonic moves.

“We will show our unwavering resolve not to tolerate any unilateral attempts to change the status quo,” he added.

In 2017, the Defense Ministry established the Southwestern Air Defense Force at the base in the Okinawa capital of Naha.

Chinese military aircraft carriers are ramping up operations not only in the East China Sea but also in the Pacific over the past few years. Southwestern Air Defense Force aircraft were involved in 327 of the 555 scrambles by ASDF fighter jets in Japan between April and December last year.

Kihara exchanged views with senior officers at the base and inspected Ground, Maritime and Air SDF aircraft belonging to the base.

JIJI Press