[Ronin]

I expect this to be the topic of the 2100 NHK analysis program, but I will tune in from 2045 to see what’s shown.

The newspaper assertion that Okinawa is Chinese territory, which could have never been published without CCP approval, is a significant escalation both because there is absolutely no way any Japanese administration could ever even contemplate ceding it and because Okinawa is home so much of the US Forces in this neck of the woods.

Like it or not, I think Japan is going to have to, at least, consider moving naval assets closer and increasing their patrol plane profiles. I expect Chinese commercial and military vessels to operate more aggressively in the near term future.

[AmericanInTokyo]

First up is a double naval ring around the Senkaku Islands by Japanese forces.

That will be an outer perimeter of ships, and then formed an inner perimeter of ships, mostly Coast Guard and I assume JNSDF (Maritime Self Defense Forces) backed up by Japanese naval aircraft assets, satellite (shared information w/USA) sigint, elint, etc.

I do know that the Japanese ships are already reportedly (open source) in position down there, but Red China will probably have another go at it soon, even if they sacrifice the lives of some Red Chinese merchant ship to try to make a point and also rile their people up even more.