US-Japan intervention biggest threat: analyst

A military strategist has warned that a US-Japan joint military intervention in the Taiwan question would be the biggest threat to China, in the wake of a proposed revision of the Guidelines for Japan-US Defense Cooperation.

Rear Admiral Yin Zhuo, director of the Chinese Navy Advisory Committee for Informatization, made the warnings on August 8 while exchanging views with Web users on China's national security at people.com.cn.

The US has incited tensions surrounding the Nansha Islands in the South China Sea and the Diaoyu Islands in the East China Sea to tighten military ties with its allies, and take China's attention away from such issues in order to contain China, Yin said.

"If the US fails to contain China with such issues, it may make big moves in the Taiwan Straits. We should seriously and psychologically prepare for that," warned Yin.

The US and Japan agreed to consider revising the Guidelines for Japan-US Defense Cooperation, which stipulate methods of cooperation between Japan's Self-Defense Forces and the US military during times of emergency, reported the Yomiuri Shimbun paper.

The guidelines, which were first created in 1978, were drastically revised in 1997 to respond to possible contingencies on the Korean Peninsula. Tokyo and Washington both found it necessary to review the guidelines afresh, as 15 years have passed since the previous revisions.

Yin warned that the biggest threat of a revised guideline would be a joint military intervention in the Taiwan question by Japan and the US, which would have a subversive impact on China's period of strategic opportunity.

Though China has been taking a defensive strategy in national defense, Yin noted that it is not afraid of wars and has the confidence to beat any rivals on its soil and in its coastal waters.

According to the Rear Admiral, China has set up marine corps in its three fleets, namely the North Sea Fleet, East Sea Fleet and South Sea Fleet. However, only two marine brigades are deployed to the South Sea Fleet due to limited numbers of troops.