Yonaguni, a Japanese island, who lives with fear by China-Taiwan Tussle-Firspost

Japan is quickly militarizing its Yonaguni island near Taiwan, with plans to add a new missile unit and expand a small airport and port.

Yonaguni is a small island on the western border of Japan, approximately 108 kilometers from the east coast of Taiwan. Part of the Yaeyama Islands of Okinawa Prefecture, has a small population of less than 2,000 residents.

The Japanese government has established military facilities on the island, which leads to mixed reactions among residents.

Although naturally attractive, the island is recognized for its beauty and unique attractions.

The divers are attracted to Yonaguni to have the opportunity to see hammer sharks and explore the mysterious formation of submerged rocks known as the Yonaguni monument.

While military efforts are praised to improve security, environmental experts have raised concerns about their impact.

The forest mountains of the island now house radar sites, and a ranch of southern cattle has become the Yonaguni Japanese self -defense force camp.

Previously, Japan and the United States also carried out joint military exercises on the island.

Military accumulation has turned Yonaguni into a key first line in a possible conflict over Taiwan, which China claims as yours.

“When I was a child, I was proud of this westernmost island,” said Fumie Kano, a local resident. “But now, we keep listening that it is dangerous, and that saddens me.”

The population of the island feels the effects of militarization. Supporters argue that the arrival of troops improves security and increases the weak economy. However, opponents like Kano care about damaging the environment, makes the island depend on the army and increases the risk of conflict.

Yonaguni is only 110 kilometers (68 miles) east of Taiwan, an area where China has increased its military presence. Concerned about a possible conflict, Japan has changed its southwest defense approach, increasing military spending and deployment of troops.

The missile units, including the PAC-3 interceptors, have already parked in Yonaguni and the nearby Ishigaki and the Miyako Islands.

Premises trapped in geopolitical tensions

Residents are now trapped in geopolitical tensions. A recent government plan to deploy more missiles, possibly in the long term, has caused concerns about the future of the island, even among those that initially supported the military presence.

The native of Yonaguni, Kano, remembers when the officials and the locals hoped to boost the economy and the environment establishing direct links of ferry with Taiwan. However, this plan was abandoned in favor of organizing Japanese troops, which provided government subsidies and security.

The decision divided the community. A 2015 referendum approved the deployment of Japanese troops, placing the destiny of the island in the hands of national security policy.

In 2016, a 160 -members coastal surveillance unit was established to monitor Chinese military movements, with radars installed in Mount Inbi and other places. Today, around 210 troops, including an electronic war unit, are parked in Yonaguni. Their families represent a fifth of the population of the island, and the local economy now depends largely on them.

Many care about the speed and scale of militarization. “Everything is being done in the name of Taiwan’s emergency, and many feel it is too much,” says Kyoko Yamaguchi, a local potter.

The concerns grew even more in October when a Japanese army inclination corridor, the fisherman eagle, crashed during a simulation joint with the US army, although no deaths were reported.

Japan, China increases military presence

The Japan Air Forces in Naha, the capital of the Okinawa Prefecture, play a crucial role in the protection of airspace and waters in the southwest of the country.

The Southwest Air Defense Force, based in NAHA, is the most busy of the four regional air forces in Japan. In 2023, approximately 60% of the national total of 669, mainly in response to Chinese activity, was stirred, according to the Ministry of Defense.

Japanese defense officials said China has increased their military presence in the waters between Taiwan and Yonaguni.

Ascending tensions in the region

In August, a Chinese Y-9 recognition plane briefly violated the Japanese airspace of the main island of southern Kyushu. This led the military from Japan to fight against combat planes and issue a warning to the plane. A Chinese survey ship entered the Japanese territorial waters separately on a southern island days later.

In September, the bearer of Chinese airplanes that liped and two destroyers navigated between Yonaguni and Iriomote nearby, through a band of water to the outskirts of the territorial waters of Japan.

The locals living with fear

Yonaguni’s fishing, which closely monitors foreign ships, has been the first to notice greater Chinese military activity.

In 2022, after the visit of Nancy Pelosi of the House of the United States House to Taiwan, China fired several ballistic missiles during the military exercises. A missile landed only 80 kilometers (50 miles) from Yonaguni, where more than 20 local fishing boats worked.

The fear of war about Taiwan revives painful memories of the battle of Okinawa, where around 200,000 people, almost half of them civilians, exceed their lives. Historians say that the Japanese army sacrificed Okinawa to protect the continent. Today, the main island of Okinawa still houses more than half of the 50,000 US troops in Japan.

To prevent the story from being repeated, Yonaguni must be strengthened, says Mayor Kenichi Itakazu, who for a long time advocated more Japanese troops on the island.