December 10th, 2025: Japan’s New “Missile Archipelago” Stuns Beijing & Joint China-Russia Flyover Against South Korea
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It's Wednesday, the 10th of December. This month is just flying by. If I'm not incorrect, you've got two weeks of Christmas shopping time left. Welcome to the President's Daily Brief. I'm Mike Baker, your eyes and ears on the world stage. All right, let's get briefed. First up, a major military buildup is underway as Japan races to construct what's being called a missile archipelago, aimed squarely at countering China's aggressiveness near Taiwan. Later in the show, South Korea scrambles fighter jets after Chinese and Russian warplanes enter its air defense zone, signaling tighter military coordination, of course, between Beijing and Moscow. Plus, sources say Israeli teams conducted surveillance on U.S.
and allied officials at a joint base involved in Gaza planning. And in today's Back of the Brief, UAE-backed separatists tighten their grip on southern Yemen, threatening to split the already troubled country. But first, today's PDB Spotlight. Last month on this show, we told you about Japan's decision to deploy a surface-to-air missile system to Yonaguni, that's the tiny Japanese island just 68 miles from Taiwan's coast. At the time, Tokyo described it as a defensive upgrade, one battery, one island, meant to help detect and intercept hostile aircraft or drones. Well, based on new reporting, it turns out that deployment was only the opening act. Japan isn't simply fortifying one island near Taiwan.
It is carrying out the largest, most comprehensive military buildup since World War II, a transformation so big that some inside Japan are now calling it a missile archipelago. And the scale of what's happening is definitely significant. Across the entire 160 island Ryukyu chain, that's a long arc of islands that runs from Japan's main islands all the way down toward Taiwan, Japan is building new missile batteries, radar stations, ammunition depots, electronic warfare units, and hardened infrastructure designed specifically to counter China. They're already under construction and in some places already operational. This build-up has roots going back several years. In 2022, after then-House Speaker Nancy Pelosi visited Taiwan, China fired missiles that landed near Yonaguni.
That incident jolted Japanese planners and convinced Tokyo that the old assumptions about distance and safety no longer applied. But the recent remarks from Japan's new Prime Minister, Sanae Takeuchi, accelerated everything. When she said a Chinese blockade of Taiwan could trigger a, quote, survival-threatening situation requiring Japanese intervention, Beijing erupted and Japan then doubled down on its preparations. Now we're seeing what that looks like on the ground. Yonaguni itself has already changed dramatically. New housing blocks for troops, an electronic warfare division moving in, anti-air missile units on the way, and more islands are next. Step by step, Tokyo is turning its southern archipelago into a defensive wall designed to counter China.
But the most striking development may actually be happening a bit farther north on an uninhabited island called Magashima. Magashima, located in the narrow Osumi Strait, is one of the few waterways the Chinese naval vessels use to break out into the wider Pacific. And Japan has purchased the entire island for $146 million. That seems like a bargain to build a massive new joint training base for U.S. and Japanese F-35 fighter jets. Satellite imagery reviewed this week shows the pace of construction, a 2,000-meter runway, ammunition depots, fuel farms, and a pier large enough to serve warships. 6,000 workers are now on the island. That's 1,000 more than last year. It's rapidly becoming one of the most important air power hubs in the Western Pacific.
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