PDB Situation Report | December 13th, 2025: Inside Japan’s Biggest Military Shift Since World War Two & Iran’s Student Uprising
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What is the main topic discussed in this episode?
Welcome to the PDP Situation Report. I'm Mike Baker. Your eyes and ears on the world stage. All right, let's get briefed. First up, Japan's largest military buildup since World War II is now underway. New reporting shows a sweeping expansion of missile sites, radar systems, and a major U.S.-Japan F-35 base across islands near Taiwan. Retired Rear Admiral Mark Montgomery joins us for more on those developments. Later in the show, Iran's students are stepping into a dangerous spotlight as unrest builds across the country. We'll be joined by Iranian-American scholar and human rights advocate, Dr. Ramesh Separad, for more on that. But first, today's Situation Report Spotlight. Japan is undertaking its largest military buildup since World War II, and the scale is far bigger than what we reported just last month.
Back then, we reported that Tokyo was preparing to place a surface-to-air missile unit on Yonaguni. That's a tiny island just 68 miles from Taiwan. Now, new reporting shows a sweeping transformation across the entire Ryukyu chain, that's a long arc of islands running from Japan's main homeland down toward Taiwan. Tokyo is adding missile batteries, radar sites, electronic warfare units, and ammunition depots, while also building a massive new U.S.-Japan F-35 training base on Magashima. So, you ask, what does this massive military buildup mean for the region and the growing tensions between China and Japan? Joining us to break this down is retired Rear Admiral Mark Montgomery, Senior Fellow at the Foundation for the Defense of Democracies.
Sir, thank you very much for coming back on the Situation Report. Thank you for having me, Mike. Let's take a look at this situation.
What is Japan's military buildup and why is it significant?
Are we about to watch a war break out between China and Japan?
No, but China's definitely trying to flex that they're a big country and Japan's a medium-sized country and try to hold them accountable. Look, China worries about, can we coerce Taiwan into rejoining us on their own? One of the things they know makes it harder is if allies and partners of Taiwan demonstrate a willingness to fight alongside Taiwan. So, that's why they criticize the United States every time we do an arms sale to Taiwan. They criticize us every time we have a major exercise with the Taiwan forces, which isn't frequent. Similarly, the Japanese prime minister said out loud what many Japanese senior leaders since Prime Minister Abe left office some five years, six years ago. She said out loud what they all said in private, which is that a Chinese attack on Taiwan is an existential threat to the security of Japan.
Explain to our viewers, if you could, what's the thinking behind that? Why do they view it that way?
I think the Japanese understand that if China were to successfully reintegrate Taiwan coercively, in other words, there was a failure of the United States to respond under the Taiwan Relations Act or we responded too late or we had initial casualties and we backed off, whatever the reason, if there was some kind of Chinese success, the rest of the Northeast, China would then look at Japan and Korea as future vassal states. They would extend their perceived hegemonic or regional power umbrella to include those two countries. Right now, they clearly fall under the US security umbrella with actual treaties between us and Japan and between us and Korea that we would defend you against any attack. And their economic
security, they align with their national security. So with the United States, both countries have very aggressive direct investment in trade policies towards the United States.
How is the U.S.-Japan military relationship evolving?
In other words, to make sure they keep us entangled with them. And President Trump has amplified that with his trade negotiations, really pushing foreign direct investment by those two countries, Japan and Korea in the United States. So the whole idea is we're aggressively entangled. But if the security arrangement falls apart, because we're no longer reliable, credible ally, because we allow Taiwan to fall. So that's how Japan looks at it.
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Chapters
8 chapters
1
What is the main topic discussed in this episode?
0:12–2:00
2
What is Japan's military buildup and why is it significant?
2:00–4:24
3
How is the U.S.-Japan military relationship evolving?
4:24–9:24
4
What are the implications of Japan's military expansion for regional security?
9:24–12:26
5
What role do Iranian students play in the current protests?
12:26–13:36
6
How has the Iranian regime responded to student protests?
13:36–15:37
7
What is the current state of dissent among the Iranian youth?
15:37–22:11
8
How does economic hardship contribute to unrest in Iran?
22:11–53:56
Speakers
4 identifiedMore from The President's Daily Brief
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