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JAPAN STUDIES SDF RESPONSE TO TAIWAN STRAIT CONFLICT
- By The Financial District
- Apr 25, 2021
- 2 min read
The Japanese government is studying possible responses by the country's Self-Defense Forces (SDF) in the event of a military conflict between the United States and China over Taiwan based on various scenarios within the strict confines of its national security laws, government sources said late on Saturday, Kyodo News reported.
Japan, which has restrictions on its use of force under the war-renouncing Constitution, has been alarmed by China's increased regional assertiveness. Tokyo has taken a bolder stance with its US ally when the two mentioned the importance of cross-strait peace in their leaders' joint statement last week.
In March, Phil Davidson, outgoing commander of the US Indo-Pacific Command, testified at the Senate Armed Services Committee that he believed China could attempt to seize Taiwan within the next six years.
China considers democratic Taiwan as a non-negotiable "core interest" and an internal matter, and as a renegade province to be reunified by force if necessary. The two split in 1949 after a civil war.
Tokyo's studies focus on responses to cases when a security crisis emerges with the potential to affect its security if left unchecked, when a close partner is attacked and threatens Japan's own survival or when Japan is under a direct attack.
US bases in Japan that are concentrated on Okinawa, the southernmost island prefecture, could be threatened in the event of a Chinese attack on the US military, the sources said.
Under Japan's security laws, the SDF could provide transport and supply operations and related logistics support to the US military and partners in the first scenario and Japan would be also allowed to practice collective self-defense under a second scenario.
If a conflict expanded to a direct attack on Japanese soil, such as on the Yonaguni or Senkaku islands in Okinawa -- the latter of which China claims and calls Diaoyu -- the SDF will be mobilized to defend Japan and engage in combat operations.
The government will now seek to clarify which scenarios envisioned by the security laws could be applicable in a possible Taiwan-related conflict, and clarify SDF activities.
