How Okinawa’s political shift could make Japan more prepared for a Taiwan contingency

Okinawa’s election on Sunday of a governor backed by Japan’s ruling party ended 12 years of local leadership opposed to the relocation of a US airbase and elements of Tokyo’s defence build-up plans.While experts say that Genta Koja’s victory will not give Tokyo any new military authority in the region, it could lead to closer integration of civilian infrastructure into Japan’s defence network in case of a conflict – including one over Taiwan.Koja’s election would give Tokyo “room to expand its so-called Nansei shift, that is to concentrate its military build-up in the southwestern part of Japan to deter China’s military presence in the East and South China seas”, said Sebastian Maslow, an associate professor at the University of Tokyo.Maslow said much of this shift would probably have happened regardless of the election result. But with a prefectural government backed by Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi’s Liberal Democratic Party, the process would be “less noisy and perhaps faster”.