Japan warned today that China risks to heighten tensions around Taiwan with its military exercises, which appear in part to prepare Beijing's forces for a possible invasion of the territory of the self-governing island, Reuters reported, quoted by BTA. Japan is worried that a conflict with Taiwan could spread to its territory.
„We cannot rule out the possibility of increased tensions due to increased military activity,”, Japan said for the first time in its annual “Defense White Paper”.
With its westernmost island only about 110 km from Taiwan, Japan maintains 50,000 US troops, hundreds of US warplanes and an aircraft carrier strike group that Washington can deploy to defend Taiwan.
The Japanese “White Paper“ of 548 pages also highlights China's plans to double its nuclear arsenal to over a thousand warheads by 2030.
There are also mentions of North Korea's plans to boost its nuclear strike capabilities with surveillance satellites and new, more advanced missiles, some of which can reach the US.
Japan is also concerned about Russia because of its military ties to China and, more recently, North Korea.