Japan's military base construction on Mageshima Island revealed by media; expert says move raises alarms over Tokyo's military ambition
Global Times
By Liu Caiyu and Liu Xuanzun Published: Dec 03, 2025 05:33 PM
Amid Japan's consecutive military expansion moves, particularly after Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi's erroneous remarks on Taiwan, the country's reported progress in the construction of a new military base on Mageshima Island has again raised the alarms over Japan's military ambitions, a Chinese expert warned.
Mageshima Island, off the coast of Tanegashima Island, is where the construction of a Japan Self-Defense Forces base is progressing. The number of construction workers has reached a peak, exceeding 6,000 for the first time, Japanese media TBS News reported on November 14. A Japanese defense news outlet also reported relevant information on Wednesday.
On Mageshima Island, plans are underway for developing a Self-Defense Forces base and the relocation of US military carrier-based aircraft's Field Carrier Landing Practice (FCLP). Currently, construction is proceeding at a rapid pace toward the base's completion in March 2030, according to the TBS report.
Citing information from the Japanese Defense Ministry, J Defense News, a Japanese defense news outlet, on Wednesday also reported the relevant information, revealing the schedule for Self-Defense Forces base construction work, environmental conservation measures, and other activities to be carried out in December and from January to March of the following year. Photographs showing the progress of facility construction were also published.
According to J Defense News, construction of the Self-Defense Forces base there began on January 12, 2023, with the aim of establishing it as a hub for operations and training in the so-called southwestern islands, as well as a response base for potential attacks on the island region.
The base will include two runways, an unpaved landing training facility, an F-35B simulated shipborne takeoff and landing training facility, and onshore training areas, among other features, J Defense News reported.
Chinese military affairs expert Song Zhongping told the Global Times on Wednesday that the construction of this military base is laying the groundwork and serving as crucial preparation for Japan's future military expansion and buildup.
While the base is described as a US carrier-based aircraft training facility, Japan could also use this base to serve its own military ambitions, Song said.
Song noted that Mageshima island is located close to Ryukyu islands, and establishing a base here can also disperse forces, serving as a tactical option.
In response to a related question on Japan, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Mao Ning said on November 21 that in recent years, Japan has kept easing the restrictions and seeking military buildup. It has increased defense budget for 13 consecutive years, and adopted the new security laws to remove the ban on exercising the right to collective self-defense. It has also replaced the Three Principles on Arms Exports with the Three Principles on Transfer of Defense Equipment and Technology to ease restrictions on arms exports and has even started exporting deadly weapons. While claiming it hopes to build a world without nuclear weapons, Japan is actually strengthening cooperation on extended deterrence, and even seeking to revise its three non-nuclear principles of not possessing, not producing and not permitting the introduction of nuclear weapons to open the door for enabling nuclear sharing arrangements.
"If Japan seeks to return to the path of militarism, violate its commitment to peaceful development and disrupt the postwar international order, the Chinese people will not allow it, and the international community will not allow it. Such attempts will only end in failure," Mao said.
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