US Ambassador to Japan visits islands that are a source of tension with China

(Patria) - The US Ambassador to Japan on Friday emphasized the importance of increased deterrence and his country's commitment to its alliance with its key ally as he visited two southwestern Japanese islands that are at the forefront of Tokyo's tensions with Beijing, AP reported.

Japan has shifted its defense posture to the southwest and is further accelerating its military buildup in line with its 2022 security strategy, which focuses on counterstrike capabilities with long-range cruise missiles.

Highlighting their strong alliance in the Indo-Pacific, Rahm Emanuel visited Yonaguni, Japan's westernmost island east of Taiwan, an island claimed by China.

He then visited Ishigaki Island, home to Japanese coast guard patrol boats that defend the East China Sea islands and Japanese fishermen from Chinese coast guard vessels that routinely enter Japanese waters.

Emanuel was the first US ambassador to visit Yonaguni. Accompanied by local mayor Kenichi Itokazu, he looked towards Taiwan, just 110 kilometers away.

Emanuel met with a local fisherman, one of the victims of China's increasingly assertive actions in regional seas.

The lives of Japanese fishermen were endangered when five missiles fired by China into Japan's exclusive economic zone fell into the area in 2022, following the visit of then-US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi to Taiwan, Emanuel said.

"If they don't have deterrence, it will be worse," Emanuel told AP. "If you have very strong deterrence, it ensures that there is peace, it ensures security, it ensures economic prosperity," he said.

"Without it, it is more likely to be a green light for those who want to use economic coercion and confrontation as their only means of expression."

In Ishigaki, the Japanese coast guard protects fishing boats in disputed waters around Japanese-controlled islands in the East China Sea, which Tokyo calls Senkaku.

Beijing claims the islands and calls them Diaoyu, and its coast guard vessels often confront Japanese ones.

Japanese Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshimasa Hayashi welcomed Emanuel's trip, saying it was "significant" for improving understanding of Tokyo's efforts to strengthen security in the southwestern region, where additional military units and missile defense systems have been deployed.

While local officials support the reinforcement of Japanese troops on the islands, local residents have organized a small protest, concerned that they could be the first to be affected in a possible conflict between the US and China.

Okinawa Governor Denny Tamaki, who supports the Japan-US security alliance and calls for reducing the burden of hosting half of the approximately 50,000 US troops in Japan, criticized the use of Yonaguni's commercial airport by the US military aircraft used by the ambassador.