Japan places radar on far-south island in response to Chinese incursions
Felix Kim
Japan will erect mobile surveillance radar on the remote island of Kitadaitojima, in the nation’s far southern region, to monitor heightened activity by People’s Republic of China (PRC) vessels. Japan’s Defense Ministry is keeping Kitadaitojima’s 660 residents appraised of the project’s progress.
Kitadaitojima is part of the Japanese archipelago that descends from the country’s main islands almost to Taiwan. Its location in the Daito Islands, east of Okinawa in the Philippine Sea, provides a unique vantage point from which Japan’s Self-Defense Forces and the nation’s Allies and Partners can improve their situational awareness. The radar will be in the village of Kitasato.
“Strengthening the surveillance posture on the Pacific coast is an urgent task in light of the expansion and intensification of activities by neighboring countries,” Japan’s Defense Minister Minoru Kihara said in late June 2024.
Japan has sought greater surveillance coverage of the vast maritime region, said Dr. Jeffrey Hornung, a defense analyst with the Rand Corp., a United States-based think tank. “The goal is likely to enhance visibility on Chinese activities, especially around the Miyako Strait,” Hornung told FORUM. The radar system’s deployment is driven by concerns about “mainly China, possibly Russia,” he said.
The Miyako Strait is between Okinawa and Miyako islands. Miyako is about 380 kilometers east of Taipei.
In late March 2024, People’s Liberation Army Navy vessels appeared near Miyako Island, according to the U.S. Naval Institute, and a Russian surveillance ship sailed off Japan’s Oshima Island, near Tokyo.
“In recent years, Russia has strengthened military cooperation with China, such as by conducting joint bomber flights, joint naval navigation and various training exercises with the Chinese military,” Kihara said. He emphasized the importance of fixed warning and control equipment on Japan’s northern Hokkaido island “that can detect and track new airborne threats such as hypersonic glide vehicles in addition to ballistic missiles …”.
Japan’s remote islands such as Kitadaitojima are not covered by fixed surveillance radar, hence the need for deployment of mobile radar, Hornung said. “It’s part of bolstering capabilities and situational awareness. Japan is trying to get a better grasp on its surrounding waters to understand China’s activities. This is one piece of a larger puzzle, including investments in logistics, passive defenses and ISR [intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance],” he said.
Kitadaito’s radar system will complement surveillance provided by Japanese and U.S. satellites, Hornung said. “It doesn’t hurt to have duplicate coverage.”
Defense Ministry officials met with Kitadaitojima residents in July 2023 to discuss the planned radar deployment, The Japan Times newspaper reported. Kitadaito Mayor Mitsumasa Miyagi later said he long has wanted the island to have a radar system. Chinese warships holding drills in the area leave island residents anxious, he said.
Felix Kim is a FORUM contributor reporting from Seoul, South Korea.
