The Japanese government is planning to build air defense shelters on Miyako Island in Okinawa Prefecture due to concerns that war might break out in the Taiwan Strait, Japanese media reported.
Japanese Chief Cabinet Secretary Hirokazu Matsuno on Saturday reportedly visited the prefecture to discuss evacuation plans in the event of such an emergency.
Japan would soon begin gathering opinions from experts to draw up guidelines for air defense shelters, so that they could withstand an attack by the end of the year, the Yomiuri Shimbun reported yesterday.
Photo: Reuters
About 10 experts would be selected to formulate the guidelines, the newspaper said, adding that standards for floor space and wall thickness are expected to be discussed with nuclear and missile attacks in mind.
Japan’s National Security Strategy, which was revised in December last year, states that Japan must strengthen its civil protection system and evacuation facilities, especially on the Nansei Islands, including Miyako Island, which is governed as part of the City of Miyakojima, the Yomiuri Shimbun said.
The aim is to ensure the safety of local government employees and others who would likely be unable to evacuate in advance, it said.
The Miyakojima city government last month asked the Japanese Ministry of Defense to provide financial assistance to convert the basement of a planned gymnasium into an air defense shelter, the newspaper said.
Equipped with storage warehouses and power generation facilities, the shelter has been designed to accommodate about 4,500 people for three days, it said.
In addition to Miyako Island, Japan would expedite efforts to build air defense shelters on the islands of Yonaguni and Ishigaki, it said.
Yonaguni Island, also part of the Nansei Islands, is about 100km from Taiwan and is likely to be affected if China invades Taiwan, the Yomiuri Shimbun said.
Meanwhile, Matsuno on Saturday began a three-day visit to the Nansei Islands to learn about “the situation and opinions on the ground” while devising plans to protect Japanese nationals during a Taiwan emergency, Japanese public broadcaster NHK reported on Saturday.
It could take up to 10 days to evacuate everyone on Ishigaki Island, including tourists, so shelters would be needed to ensure their safety, Matsuno was quoted as saying.
Ishigaki Mayor Yoshitaka Nakayama said he hoped the central government could help expand the isalnd’s quays and extend its airport runways to ensure quick evacuations during emergencies, NHK reported.
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