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

Election of governor backed by nation’s ruling party could stabilise the US military presence and drive a defence build-up

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.

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”.