Japan explores 3 war scenorios with China amid ADIZ concerns

A Japanese F-15J fighter. (Photo/CNS)

Japan has responded to China's Nov. 23 announcement of its air defense indification zone (ADIZ) over the East China Sea by holding a television conference to discuss the possibility of dealing with China on three fronts — Taiwan, the Miyako waterway and the disputed Diaoyutai (Senkaku or Diaoyu) islands — within the next 10-15 years, according to the Toyko-based Sankei Shimbun.

Commanders from the Japan Air Self Defense (JASDF) Northern Air Defense Force, Central Air Defense Force, Southern Air Defense Force and Southwestern Composite Air Division were called up by the Air Defense Command HQ stationed at Yokota for the television conference on Dec. 5, the paper said.

During the conference, the JASDF said that from the beginning of this year, its F-15J fighters had conducted drills to test the capability of the Chinese radar system. The JASDF concluded that Chinese radar system is able to detect the movement of aircraft in high altitude only.

Commanders attending the conference pointed out that the Japanese early warning radar system in Kyoto prefecture — based in the western part of the nation — can cover the entire airspace over the disputed Diaoyutai islands, which Japan, China and Taiwan all lay claim to (called the Senkaku Islands in Japan and the Diaoyu Islands in China). It can also cover the Miyako waterway, which lies between the Japanese islands of Miyako and Okinawa, and is thus an advantage in a potential conflict against China and its military aircraft.

Realizing that this advantage will be lost if the disputed islands were to fall into Chinese hands, the meeting focused on three war scenarios. The first scenario examined the possibility that China may only attack the island chain. The second explored the possibility that China may launch an attack against both the Diaoyutai islands and Miyako waterway simultaneously, while in the third scenario, the Diaoyutai islands, Miyako waterway and Taiwan were all potential targets.

The meeting concluded that tensions and the risk of conflict between the two nation's military aircraft will increase in the future as China will now send fighters to regularly patrol its new ADIZ, the Sankei Shimbun said.

Want China Times