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Japan unveiled a plan on Thursday to evacuate around 120,000 residents and tourists from its southern islets near the Taiwan region within six days in the event of an "emergency," according to CNA. A Chinese expert said on Friday that this move is to serve Japan's specific political purpose by inciting a sense of crisis.

NHK reported that people from the five municipalities covering the Sakishima Islands would be evacuated under the plan. The plan calls for evacuating around 120,000 residents and tourists to 32 municipalities in Kyushu, and to neighboring Yamaguchi Prefecture in about six days. The destinations would include Fukuoka and Kagoshima airports.

Under the plan, military vessels, private ferries and aeroplanes will be mobilized to help transport people out of the islets, including to Kyushu island at the southwestern end of the Japanese archipelago, CNA said.

The plan was put together as "the security situation surrounding our nation grows severe" and with an "emergency" in mind, the Japanese government's crisis management office claimed, according to CNA.

The government claims the plan is not aimed at any particular scenario, but all the country's islets subject to evacuation are near the Taiwan region, Kyodo News reported, while NHK reported that the plan, the first of its kind, would be used in cases such as a contingency involving the Taiwan region.

The Japanese government also said it plans to conduct field drills for evacuations from the southern prefecture of Okinawa in fiscal 2026 from April next year, as reported by Kyodo News.

The Chinese expert pointed out that on the surface, Japan's move is intended to prepare for a potential "Taiwan emergency" or the escalation of tensions in the surrounding region, but it is a disguised attempt to hype up the so-called external threat and to incite the notion that "a Taiwan emergency is a Japanese emergency." This serves specific political needs by fomenting a sense of crisis among the public, Xiang Haoyu, a research fellow at the China Institute of International Studies, told the Global Times on Friday. 

Xiang added that such political need is to support the policy of strengthening the military and expanding its capabilities, and the specific objective is to align with the current military deployment of Japan's Self-Defense Forces in Okinawa and other remote islands in the southwestern direction, in order to mitigate the local populace's resistance and opposition, Xiang said.

Besides, Japan is also considering deploying long-range missiles on the southwestern island of Kyushu as part of the country's efforts to acquire "counterstrike capabilities" to hit enemy targets in the event of an emergency, Kyodo News reported earlier this month, citing government sources.

The deployment, expected to commence at the end of the next fiscal year in March 2026, is aimed at bolstering the security of the country's southwestern Nansei island chain, strategically important for its proximity to the Taiwan region, amid growing fears the island may be "invaded," according to Kyodo News. 

In response to a media query regarding Japan's plan to deploy long-range missiles on its Kyushu Island over so-called concerns about a possible "attack" by the Chinese mainland on Taiwan, Wu Qian, spokesperson for the Ministry of National Defense, said on Thursday that Japan is the least qualified to make irresponsible remarks on the Taiwan question, adding that the Taiwan question has nothing to do with Japan.

One of the major pretexts for Japan's actions, including accelerating the research, development, and deployment of offensive weaponry, is to deal with the so-called "Taiwan emergency." These actions not only reflect Japan's deeply entrenched erroneous understanding and negative policy orientation on the Taiwan question, but also reveal the danger of Japan, which fails to deeply reflect on its history, embarking on the path of remilitarization, Xiang said.

During a press briefing on Monday, when asked to further brief on China's stance after Foreign Minister Wang Yi talked about the Taiwan question with Japanese political figures during his visit, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Guo Jiakun said that the false narrative, including "a Taiwan emergency is a Japanese emergency" and "the China-Japan Joint Statement is not legally binding," will erode the political foundation of China-Japan relations. 

Such a narrative is not only wrong, but also very dangerous, Guo said, adding that we urge Japan to deliver on its commitment, handle the Taiwan question with extra prudence and take concrete actions to maintain the momentum of improvement and development in China-Japan relations.