The United States is working on scenarios involving military deployments in Japan and the Philippines in the event of a crisis linked to Taiwan, reported the Japanese news agency Kyodo. These scenarios will be integrated into a first joint operation plan to be developed in December, according to sources familiar with US-Japanese relations, Kyodo said on the evening of Sunday, November 24.
A U.S. Marine regiment with a high-mobility, multiple-launch rocket artillery system would be deployed along the Nansei Islands, a chain of Japanese islands stretching from the southern tip of Kyushu to Yonaguni, near Taiwan. As soon as the possibility of a crisis involving Taiwan becomes imminent, temporary bases will be set up on inhabited islands, the agency adds. The Japanese army should mainly engage in logistical support, in particular by providing fuel and ammunition, according to the same source. Kyodo added that the US military would deploy long-range fire units from a detachment specializing in “multi-domain” operations to the Philippines.
The Japanese and Philippine defense ministries were not immediately available for comment. The US embassy in Manila declined to comment. Questioned Monday during a regular press briefing on this supposed plan by the United States, a spokesperson for the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Mao Ning, affirmed that “Taiwan is an inalienable part of Chinese territory.” “China firmly opposes the country in question using the Taiwan issue as a pretext to strengthen its military deployment in the region, to provoke tensions and confrontations, as well as to undermine regional peace and stability,” he said. she pointed out.
American alliances in the region strengthened
China considers Taiwan as one of its provinces, which it has not yet succeeded in reunifying with the rest of its territory since the end of the Chinese civil war in 1949. It says it favors peaceful reunification, but regularly reminds do not give up the option of “use of force” if necessary. Washington has strengthened its alliances in the region, irritating Beijing with the regular deployment of military ships and aircraft in the Taiwan Strait.
Beijing-Taipei relations have been execrable since 2016 and the arrival as Taiwanese president of Tsai Ing-wen, then of her successor Lai Ching-te in 2024. China has regularly accused them of wanting to deepen the cultural separation between the island and the continent. In response, Beijing notably strengthened its military activity around the territory.