China National News (ANI) Tuesday 15th January, 2013
The Defense Ministry of Japan is thinking of stationing F-15 fighter jets at a remote airport halfway from Naha to Taiwan to speed up its response to airspace incursions by China near the disputed Senkaku Islands, according to government sources.
The planes would be stationed on Shimojijima Island, which is much closer to the Japan-administered Senkakus, which China claims as the Diaoyu, than to Okinawa's prefectural capital Naha, where the Air Self-Defense Force's F-15s are based, reports The Japan Times.
But since Shimojijima Airport is not equipped for military use, the ministry would have to make several modifications before shifting the fighters over from Okinawa Island, the sources said.
On January 5, Prime Minister Shinzo Abe told Defense Ministry officials to strengthen Japan's border security measures.
Naha Air Base is about 420 km away from the Senkakus, which means it takes around 15 to 20 minutes for an F-15 to get there after an emergency takeoff.
Shimojijima Airport, which is administered by the Okinawa Prefectural Government, is about 190 km southeast of the Senkakus and has a 3,000-meter-long runway.
In 1971, a year before Okinawa's reversion from the United States to Japan, the Japanese government and the then-government of the Ryukyu Islands concluded a memorandum of understanding stating that the airport would not be used for purposes other than civil aviation.
But in 2004, the central government fudged its stance in a written reply to questions posed in the Diet, saying it is not that the use of Shimojijima Airport for pilot training and by aircraft other than commercial planes is not permitted.
The Japanese and U.S. governments consider the airport a potential base for disaster relief for contingencies in the Asia-Pacific region. (ANI)
Source: http://www.chinanationalnews.com/index.php/sid/211944980/scat/9366300fc9319e9b
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