LDP group proposes strengthening control of Senkaku Islands by making using of Shimojishima Airport

LDP group proposes strengthening control of Senkaku Islands by making using of Shimojishima Airport

Senkaku Islands (archival photograph)


September 18, 2020 Ryukyu Shimpo

Tokyo – The Liberal Democratic Party’s (LDP) National Defense Legislator’s Alliance (NDLA, former Director General of the Japan Defense Agency Seishiro Eto, chairman) authored a proposal September 17, calling for added maintenance and expansion of the airports and ports in the Nansei (Ryukyu) Archipelago for use by the Japanese Self Defense Forces (JSDF), in order to strengthen their effective control over the Senkaku Islands. According to written confirmation from both Japan’s central government and Okinawa Prefecture, the proposal includes Shimojishima Airport, which is recognized as being exclusively for civilian use. The group plans to formally submit the proposal to the Japanese government next week.

The proposal combines policies to strengthen control from three perspectives, defense capability, police presence, and governmental control. It outlines conducting joint training exercises with the JSDF and U.S. military in the area around the Senkaku Islands, and upgrading the ports on Yonaguni Island so that they can harbor Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force (JMSDF) destroyers.

At a meeting on September 17, the alliance explained that a representative from the Ministry of Defense (MoD) has said regarding Shimojishima Airport, “At the present stage, we are not considering using [the airport] as a base for the Japanese Air Self-Defense Force (JASDF).” In the Ryukyu archipelago, the only airport other than Naha Airport that is capable of allowing JASDF fighter aircraft to take-off and land is Shimojishima Airport, and the alliance (head of the secretariat, Councillor Masahisa Sato) indicates, “We want to urge the government to allow fighter aircraft use of the airport.”
(English translation by T&CT and Sam Grieb)

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