Ishigaki: The Japanese government will speed up work to build evacuation shelters in the Nansei island chain in the country’s southwest as tensions simmer over the Taiwan Strait, Chief Cabinet Secretary Hirokazu Matsuno said Monday.

“We’ll need to discuss the scale and strength (of shelters) as well as stockpiles, taking into account the situation and population of each area,” Matsuno told a press conference in Ishigaki, Okinawa Prefecture.

In addition, Matsuno suggested that the central government will hold talks with local governments and companies on securing transportation capacity to evacuate residents from the islands.

A tabletop evacuation exercise conducted by the Okinawa prefectural government and others in March revealed challenges including how to respond when ships cannot sail due to a bad whether, Matsuno said.

“We’ll work closely with local governments and transportation operators to improve the effectiveness of civil protection,” he said.

Also, Matsuno sought understanding for the central government’s efforts to reinforce the presence of the Self-Defense Forces on the Okinawa islands of Yonaguni, Ishigaki and Miyako.

The presence of the SDF on the Nansei islands will increase deterrence and response capabilities, and reduce the possibility of being attacked by armed forces, he said.

Earlier on Monday, Matsuno met with Masato Maedomari, mayor of Taketomi, an island town of Okinawa, and discussed ways to protect locals in the event of a possible Taiwan contingency.

In the talks, Maedomari asked for the construction of an underground facility that could serve as an evacuation shelter, a port that can accommodate large ships and the extension of an airport runway.

JIJI Press