By Xu Yongzhi
With the so-called "capability of attacking enemy bases", Japan's Ministry of Defense deployed long-range missiles in Kumamoto Prefecture on March 31, 2026. Under the pretext of "defense" and "counterattack," Japan has deployed offensive weapons in its southwestern region, harboring the malicious intent of interfering in regional affairs and sending a dangerous signal of breaking away from its pacifist Constitution and repeating the old path of military expansion.
For years, Japan has been strengthening its military deployment in Kyushu and the Nansei Islands. In its 2010 National Defense Program Guidelines, Japan proposed shifting the focus of its military deployment to the southwest. In the same year, the Combined Brigade of the Japan Ground Self-Defense Force (JGSDF) stationed in Okinawa was upgraded to a brigade, marking the official start of Japan's intensified military deployment in the southwest.
To date, Japan's military deployment in the southwest has seen the following trends. The first trend is reinforcing permanent troops. In Kyushu, the Amphibious Rapid Deployment Brigade, established in 2018 for amphibious operations, has continuously expanded its scale and been equipped with the CV-22 Osprey tiltrotor aircraft and other equipment. In the Nansei Islands, permanent troops of the JGSDF will be upgraded from brigades to divisions, and garrison units have been deployed on major outlying islands including Miyako, Ishigaki, and Amami. The second is deploying anti-ship and air defense capabilities. The JGSDF has deployed anti-ship and air defense missiles on islands such as Amami and Ishigaki, and positioned the Type 25 surface-to-ship guided missile in Kyushu. According to Japanese media reports, Japan plans to triple its anti-ship firepower in the southwest compared with 2024. The third is strengthening battlefield infrastructure construction. Japan has built many ammunition depots and dispersed hardstands and expanded medical facilities in the southwest. By August last year, dozens of airports and ports in the southwest had been designated for "specified use" to meet wartime needs.
The Japanese government and media have deliberately portrayed these moves as "strengthening the southwest defense" and even falsely claimed them as a "passive response" to regional tensions in recent years. Their real purpose is to mislead the domestic public and deceive the international community. In fact, the so-called "passive response" is utterly untenable. A former senior official of the Japan Self-Defense Forces (JSDF) who was deeply involved in relevant planning confirmed that the concept of a "southwest wall" deploying air defense and anti-ship missiles along the line from Kyushu to Yonaguni Island was formulated as early as the beginning of this century. What is particularly alarming is that the report Japan's Visions for Future Security and Defense Capabilities openly claimed that the JSDF must jointly respond to "complex situations" with the US military, explicitly pledging to support US forces in interfering in regional situations. This constitutes a blatant provocation to the post-war international order and seriously threatens regional peace and stability.
Japan's expansionist military deployment in the southwest will undoubtedly push its people into the abyss of disaster. In recent years, the JSDF has incorporated civilian infrastructure across Japan, including the southwest, into its combat system during exercises, forcibly tying Japanese citizens—especially those in the southwest—to the chariot of "neo-militarism" and turning them into victims of its expansionist policies. Lessons from history are still fresh and must not be ignored. Militarism is a dead end. Japan should deeply reflect on its history of aggression during World War II, earnestly abide by the principles of the four political documents between China and Japan and the basic norms of international law, and stop using the so-called "external threats" to create tensions and expand its armaments.
(The author is from China Institutes of Contemporary International Relations)