Toshi Yoshihara, senior fellow at the Center for Strategic and Budgetary Assessments think tank and widely considered one of the globe’s top naval strategists, said Iron Fist “is not just about island disputes” but also Tokyo’s fears of China’s growing maritime power and how Beijing sees Japan’s 700-mile long archipelago of islands that enclose the East China Sea and stretch to Taiwan. “To Chinese eyes, these islands are symbolic and physical obstacles to China's freedom of maneuver at sea,” Yoshihara said. “Chinese mariners, both commercial and military in nature, must pass through the choke-points formed by these islands to reach the open waters of the Pacific Ocean. That these islands are administered by Japan does not sit comfortably with the Chinese. Indeed, it adds to a sense of claustrophobia among Chinese strategists. “Chinese naval flotillas pass through the narrow seas formed by the Southwest Islands with increasing frequency and regularity. Tellingly, Chinese media often describe these passages as a demonstration of China's ability to ‘break through’ the island chain.”
In the News