Japan deploys MISSILE UNIT as tensions with China soar
JAPAN is to deploy a new missile system on a remote island as tensions soar with China.
By Ben Youell
DailyStar.co.uk
27th February 2018
The missile unit, capable of firing on ships up to 100km away, will be placed on Miyako Island to protect it from attempted attacks.
The small island is out of range of the Okinawa mainland’s firing range, so is currently at risk from Chinese pressure.
Like the Senkaku Islands, Miyako Island is a contested territory and remains a concern for the Japanese government, as China has been increasingly present in the area recently.
The uninhabited islands now belong to Japan, but were once part of China, before they were seized in previous wars.
Earlier this year, Japan’s Vice Foreign Minister Shinsuke Sugiyama slammed China as “provocative” as part of a formal complaint after warships and a submarine entered Japanese waters.
China is no stranger to sailing in disputed waters having done so 114 times in 2017 according to the Japanese Coast Guard.
The US owned the islands after World War 2, and returned to Japan in 1972.
It has since been discovered there is a large potential oil and natural gas reserve in the area however, leading to a rise in tensions between the Asian powers.
Since then, China and Japan have been at loggerheads over the region, with China nationalising several of the islands in 2012 and building a lighthouse on one in 2014.
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