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Liu Zhen

Gabriel Dominguez

Chinese state television has broadcast rare footage apparently showing the US Air Force’s Kadena Air Base in Okinawa, Japan as a target of the PLA’s missile force.
During an episode of the CCTV documentary Securing Victory on Monday, a satellite image of an airbase was seen in the background as People’s Liberation Army Rocket Force officers discussed an exercise and combat scenarios.
The image – which was slightly out of focus – showed an airfield surrounded by urban development. The layout of the runway and neighbouring built-up areas closely matched those of Kadena.
PLA Rocket Force officer Luo Tingrong was shown speaking to personnel while standing in front of a large screen displaying the satellite image.
“Everything you practise today could be what happens tomorrow,” Luo said.
The documentary – part of a series marking the PLA’s 99th anniversary on August 1 – did not specify when the discussion took place.

The PLA Rocket Force oversees China’s strategic and tactical missiles as well as its nuclear arsenal.
Kadena – positioned in Okinawa at the heart of the strategic “first island chain” to deter China – is the largest US airbase in East Asia and an important hub for American military operations in the western Pacific.
It is also the closest major American airbase to potential flashpoints in the Taiwan Strait and the East China Sea.
Beijing sees self-governed Taiwan as part of China, to be reunited by force if necessary. Most countries, including the United States, do not see Taiwan as an independent state, but many oppose any forcible change to the status quo. Washington is also committed to supplying Taiwan with weapons for its defence.
Located about 600km (373 miles) from Taiwan and less than 800km (497 miles) from the mainland coast, Kadena is well within the range of several Chinese land-based missiles.
They include the DF-16 and DF-21 ballistic missiles and the latest DF-17 hypersonic missile, all of which are designed to strike high-value fixed targets such as airbases.
Tetsuo Kotani, a professor of global studies at Meikai University in Japan, said Kadena had been a known target of China’s Rocket Force for decades.
“Releasing it now, timed to the PLA’s anniversary, is about projecting resolve to domestic and foreign audiences, not revealing a new capability,” he said.
Kotani added that both Japan and the US had long planned for this threat with efforts to improve shelters, disperse fuel and munitions, and strengthen strike and defence capabilities.
According to Hirohito Ogi, a researcher with the International House of Japan, the satellite image was a signal to “deter US military intervention in contingencies such as those across the Taiwan Strait”.
“It also implies that China is worried about the geostrategic utility of Japan’s Southwest Islands [also known as the Ryukyu or Nansei archipelago] in a possible Taiwan contingency, reminding the Japanese of the necessity to strengthen their defence capabilities to prevent China’s pre-emptive attacks against Japanese territories,” he said.
It comes as the ongoing US-Iran war has highlighted the vulnerability of American bases on foreign soil. US military facilities across the Middle East – including in Bahrain, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Qatar, Kuwait and Jordan – have come under fire from Iranian ballistic missiles and suicide drones, resulting in infrastructure damage and losses of high-value assets such as aircraft.
While the PLA’s training scenarios are typically highly classified, state media reports have occasionally offered glimpses into its war planning. A CCTV report last December showed a military wargaming exercise featuring simulated battles near Mexico and Cuba, the Sea of Okhotsk and Taiwan.


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Satellite image of facility that appeared to be the Okinawa airbase seen in state television documentary as PLA officer discussed drills


Satellite image of facility that appeared to be the Okinawa airbase seen in state television documentary as PLA officer discussed drills.


Has China’s missile force got America’s Kadena base in Japan in its sights?

.css-1c6uqr6{color:inherit;font-weight:inherit;font-size:inherit;font-family:inherit;line-height:inherit;overflow-wrap:break-word;}Satellite image of facility that appeared to be the Okinawa airbase seen in state television documentary as PLA officer discussed drills

Satellite image of facility that appeared to be the Okinawa airbase seen in state television documentary as PLA officer discussed drills