Far western isle a defense outpost?

YONAGUNI, Okinawa Prefecture--This remote island within spitting distance of Taiwan looks set to one day become Japan's westernmost border defense outpost.

That is, if Defense Minister Yasukazu Hamada has his way.

Hamada visited Yonagunijima island Wednesday and hinted he was thinking about stationing Ground Self-Defense Force members there.

The island lies about 500 kilometers west of the main Okinawa island and only 110 kilometers from the east coast of Taiwan.

Hamada is the first defense chief to visit the island, which is being viewed as a possible strategic outpost due to its proximity to China.

When the Defense Ministry reviews its five-year National Defense Program Guidelines at the end of the year, the possibility of using Yonagunijima will be discussed during the compilation of the Midterm Defense Program that takes place at the same time.

Some of the island's 1,600 residents are opposed to having a GSDF presence. Beijing could also raise concerns about such a move.

Hamada met with Shukichi Hokama, mayor of Yonaguni, and said, "I am well aware of the need for defense of the Sakishima island chain and I plan to consider the matter in the future."

Yonagunijima is one of a number of small islands that make up the Sakishima chain.

During his hasty one-hour tour of the island, Hamada also visited the Irizaki lookout at the western tip of the island.

Yonagunijima is near the disputed Senkaku Islands, known in Chinese as the Diaoyu islands.

Hokama visited Hamada at the Defense Ministry on June 30 and asked that a GSDF unit be based on his island to provide defense for the offshore islands, assistance during natural disasters and help promote the local economy.

Defense Ministry officials are considering a shift in the focus of the nation's defense strategy. During the Cold War, SDF members were based with an emphasis on a possible attack from the north by the Soviet Union.

Now, ministry officials are considering a shift toward Japan's western frontier, especially with China continuing to increase its defense spending as well as making moves to send its naval ships farther out to sea.

Yonagunijima is the most westward populated island in Japan and strengthening defense of the Sakishima chain and other offshore islands has become an important issue.

The current National Defense Program Guidelines that end this fiscal year call for "maintaining a structure that would be effective in responding to attacks against offshore islands."

One plan calls for upgrading the 1st Combined Brigade of the GSDF's Western Army. The brigade based in Okinawa now has 1,900 members, but plans call for converting it to the 15th Brigade with 2,200 members.

Radar facilities operated by the Air SDF on Miyakojima and Kumejima islands are the only other SDF presence on Okinawa.

The additional GSDF base would monitor ships in waters that include not only the disputed Senkaku Islands but also undersea gas fields that have been a point of controversy with China.(IHT/Asahi: July 10,2009)