Japan quietly prepares for China-US conflict in Pacific, builds bomb shelters near Taiwan

As China’s threat over the Pacific gains momentum and with Taiwan’s independence at stake, Japan is quietly preparing itself for a possible US-China war. A key ally of Washington, Japan, will begin building bomb shelters next year on its remote islands close to Taiwan, as it fears that territories located far west could be targeted by Beijing.

A report by Newsweek says the Japanese move comes as an acknowledgement of the complex reality. Japan is already hosting the most American troops anywhere in the world outside of US territory. This simply means, especially against the pattern of the recent West Asian crisis, that a US-China conflict is certainly bound to spill over.

China has been making territorial claims over the democratically governed Taiwan and considers the island-nation part of its own. These claims have been repeatedly rejected by Taipei, but the more it pushes back, the more force Beijing exhibits. China has not ruled out using force to bring Taiwan under its ambit, giving rise to concerns of the country’s expanding influence over the region.

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This move follows increased Chinese military activity near Taiwan and past incidents, such as Chinese missiles landing near Yonaguni in 2022, which alarmed local residents and prompted Japan to expand its military presence there.

What does the Japanese plan entail?

The Japanese government plans to begin subsidising long-term evacuation facilities in the Sakishima archipelago, at the southwestern end of the Nansei Islands, starting next year. The first shelters will be built on Yonaguni, the country’s westernmost inhabited island, located less than 70 miles from Taiwan.

According to Japan’s Nikkei newspaper, additional bomb shelters, designed to support stays of up to two weeks, will be constructed on nearby islands, including Iriomote, Ishigaki, Tarama, and Miyako by spring 2028.

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Meanwhile, Okinawa, Japan’s largest southwestern island, hosts around 30,000 of the 54,000 active-duty American service members. The US Navy, Air Force, Army and Marine Corps have bases on the Pacific node and participate in joint military exercises with Japan regularly.

While Tokyo plans to relocate people from these islands to the mainland, way before the hostilities begin, official estimates suggest that evacuating over 100,000 civilians via sea and air could at least take a week. Therefore, the emergency shelters would provide temporary refuge to Japanese people.

What US has said

Japan’s expedited efforts to shield itself from any forthcoming Chinese attack are not based on isolated assumptions.

US officials say Chinese President Xi Jinping has directed his military to be prepared to seize Taiwan by force by 2027. However, whether China’s military readiness will align with its political will remains uncertain. Beijing officials maintain that Taiwan remains a central issue in US-China relations.

Last month, US Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth said at the Singapore Defence Summit that China’s military was “rehearsing for the real deal,” and that an attack “could be imminent.” His claims were slammed by Beijing, which accused him of stoking regional tensions.