A mobile medical system that connects container is installed during US and Japan joint rescue training at Japan Air Self-Defense Force Naha Air Base in Naha City, Okinawa Prefecture on November 15, 2022. Photo: VCG

As Japan plans to expand and strengthen its Okinawa-based ground force unit, a step to further enhance its military capacity in Japan's southwest islands for the so-called Taiwan emergency, Chinese experts said the move will amplify adverse impacts to poison bilateral relations and exacerbate the trend of regional arms race.

Japan's Defense Ministry is considering upgrading the Ground Self-Defense Force's (GSDF) 15th Brigade, which is based in Japan's southernmost prefecture of Okinawa and is in charge of guarding and defending Okinawa, by doubling the number of infantry regiments under the 15th Brigade and upgrading its highest rank from major general to general, Kyodo News reported on Saturday, quoting sources from the Japanese government.

Japanese media reported that the move is intended to improve the defense capacity of Japan's southwest islands and enhance Japan-US cooperation to prepare for "a Taiwan emergency." Chinese experts said the possible expansion measures are the latest move in Japan's continuous reinforcement of its military capacity in the country's southwest islands, which clearly targets the cross-Taiwan Straits situation and the Diaoyu Islands.

The upgrading of the GSDF's 15th Brigade leaves room for future electronic warfare, cyber warfare and joint operations of the ground, maritime and air forces, which can enhance Japan's defense influence in the region and its response capacity in intervening in the Taiwan Straits situation, Da Zhigang, director of the Institute of Northeast Asian Studies at Heilongjiang Provincial Academy of Social Sciences, told the Global Times on Sunday.

The upgrade of the 15th Brigade is the latest move in Japan's continuous reinforcement of its military capacity. Every time Japan moves to enhance its military forces, the subtle adverse effect will be accumulated to finally poison peace and stability between China and Japan, Da pointed out.

Japan's Prime Minister Fumio Kishida on Tuesday called for the promotion of troop deployments to strengthen the defense system in Japan's southwestern region on the House of Representatives Budget Committee as he said it is an urgent issue. One day earlier, Kishida instructed his defense and finance chiefs to boost defense spending to 2 percent of GDP by 2027.

Da said some Western countries have always supported Japan to enhance its military capacity to contain China, and Japan legitimized its behavior under the excuses of the Ukraine crisis' spillover effect, North Korea's nuclear missile tests and the intensified tensions across the Taiwan Straits, which will in the end exacerbate the arms race in Northeast Asia.

In recent years, Japan has deployed anti-ship and air-defense missiles on its southwest islands of Amami Oshima, Okinawa Main Island and Miyako Island, with construction of a missile base on Ishigaki Island underway.

Besides the deployment of missiles, Okinawa hosts more than 70 percent of the US military bases stationed in Japan as it is regarded by the Japanese government, which has frequently hyped up its rhetoric that "a Taiwan emergency is a Japanese emergency," as a natural barrier to "protect" the mainland of Japan.