Japan’s Defense Ministry plans to deploy a surface-to-air guided missile unit on Yonaguni, a remote island in southwestern Japan that is about 110 kilometers from Taiwan, ministry spokesman Takeshi Aoki said Tuesday. 

Specifically, the ministry is set to expand the Ground Self-Defense Force’s Camp Yonaguni in Okinawa Prefecture to accommodate the unit, the spokesman told a press conference.

The deployment is intended to strengthen the defense of the Nansei Islands, including Yonaguni, as China is boosting its military pressure on Taiwan, sources familiar with the matter said.

The ministry’s fiscal 2023 budget plan included the costs to acquire a 180,000-square-meter land lot located west of the camp to construct facilities for the missile unit, including an ammunition depot. But the ministry has not disclosed the specific acquisition costs.

At Camp Yonaguni, established in 2016, some 200 members of the GSDF and the Air SDF are tasked with monitoring the activities of vessels and aircraft.

In fiscal 2023, which begins next April, an electronic warfare unit aimed at obstructing enemy communications and radar by electromagnetic waves will be newly deployed at the camp.

At a press conference, Okinawa Governor Denny Tamaki said that the costs to deploy the missile unit on the island have been suddenly earmarked without prior explanation to the prefecture. The prefecture has no choice but to take a tough stance, he said.

The ministry is working on deploying missile units to the Nansei Islands. Missile units have already been deployed on Miyako Island in Okinawa and Amami-Oshima Island in neighboring Kagoshima Prefecture. The ministry also plans to deploy another unit on Ishigaki Island in Okinawa during fiscal 2022.

JIJI Press