First island chain
The first island chain refers to the first chain of major archipelagos out from the East Asian continental mainland coast. Principally composed of the Kuril Islands, Japanese Archipelago, Ryukyu Islands, Taiwan, the northern Philippines, and Borneo; from the Kamchatka Peninsula to the Malay Peninsula. Some definitions of the first island chain anchor the northern end on the Russian Far East coast north of Sakhalin Island, with Sakhalin Island being the first link in the chain. However, others consider the Aleutians as the farthest north-eastern first link in the chain. The first island chain forms one of three island chain doctrines within the Island Chain Strategy.
s
The first island chain has its purpose in Chinese military doctrine. The People's Republic of China views the first island chain as the area it must secure and disable from American bases, aircraft and aircraft-carrier groups, if in defending itself it must tactically unleash a pre-emptive attack against an enemy. The aim of the doctrine is to seal off the Yellow Sea, South China Sea and East China Sea inside an arc running from the Aleutians in the north to Borneo in the south. According to reports by American think tanks CSBA and RAND, by 2020, China will be well on its way to having the means to achieve its first island chain policy.
Geographic location
The first island chain is roughly situated in waters claimed and controlled by the PRC. These include the South China Sea, within the Nine-Dash Line, the East China Sea within the Okinawa Trough. The boundary between Okinawa and China lies between Japan and Taiwan.Strategic value
US General Douglas MacArthur pointed out that before World War II, the US protected its western shores with a line of defense from Hawaii, Guam, to the Philippines. However this line of defense was attacked by Japan with the Pearl Harbor bombing of 1941, thereby drawing the US into the war. The US subsequently launched the air Raid on Taipei and launched the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. The WW2 victory allowed the US to expand its line of defense further east to the coast of Asia, and thus the US controlled the first island chain.Between the end of WW2 and the Korean War, MacArthur praised Taiwan, located at the midpoint of the first island chain, as an 'unsinkable aircraft carrier'. Meanwhile Mao Zedong launched a series of invasions of Taiwan but failed.
In 1950 the PRC attempted to break through the US line of defense, but failed due to the naval superiority of the US Seventh Fleet. For 30 years, PRC ships were unable to pass between north and south mainland ports. In 1968 the PRC made a detour through the Pacific Ocean by the Opening of the South-North route. By 1979 shipping resumed across the Taiwan strait.
During the Cold War and after the Korean war, President Dwight D. Eisenhower signed the 'Taiwan-US mutual defense pact' with the ROC. It officially included Taiwan within the first island chain. For the purpose of containing the PRC, the US provided assistance to anti-communist regimes in East Asian islands.
Taiwan and the Philippines are the weakest links in the chain; Taiwan lacking international status and the Philippines lacking sufficient military strength. Coupled with a string of political, economic, and diplomatic factors; the weak defense in the past 20 years; as well as the growing economic dependence of other Southeast Asian neighbors on mainland China; the PRC has been able to penetrate through this weak point. This has worried the US, Japan, South Korea, Australia, etc. Hence the US and China maintain a 'frightful balance' along the chain.
In 2014 April, the United States Naval Academy assessed that the first island chain is the most effective point to counter any PLA invasion. The US can cut off the PLA Navy from entering the western Pacific, but also through the defense of other first chain countries predict the movements of the PLA. The US and first chain countries are able to coordinate because of the US military's freedom of navigation in the first chain block. US troops can effectively defend and counterattacks by the PLA. Especially if other first chain countries deploy their own underwater mines, submarine, and high-speed warships, the PLA stands little chance. According to the PLA, to dealing with these countermeasures requires greater naval technology and saving manpower costs.
In 2016 December 9, Sina news detailed the US military force configuration in the first chain, including
- naval bases and reconnaissance aircraft docked at Japan's aircraft carrier fleet
- the US military's most advanced F-35, F-22, F-15, and F-16 fighter jets totalling 110 bases
- South Korea entering a state of war and deploying THAAD, with a detection range of 3500 km, in response to North Korean missile threats
- annual military exercises cooperation between the US, Philippines, and Thailand
- THAAD and a growing bomber fleet in Guam's second island chain, which supports the first.
Taiwan
Chinese mainland
Given that Japan is wary of China breaking through the first chain, Professor Meng Xiangqing of the PLA National Defence University Research Institute interviewed with the Global Times. Meng said there is a misconception that Japan is traditionally a sea-based country whereas China is land-based country. He said this view is false and that to the contrary, Zheng He sailed to the west, and for at least 2500 years, Chinese fishermen have been sailing around the South sea, so China has historically been both a naval and continental power.Gao Hong, an expert on Japan, said that the first island chain is a scheme by the US-Japan alliance to encircle and trap China. The first chain is to prevent China from accessing deep waters. Gao says this is a classic security consideration, which has given Japan some confidence. However, China has every right and reason to pass through the first chain, in accordance with the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea, which guarantees freedom of passage without harm. But the biggest threat to the PLA would be land-based missiles and increased aircraft carriers and naval fleets.
According to a 2018 report to the US Congress:
- In 2013 September the PLA conducted a sea bomber training session, first launching a 6G bomber equipped with short-range anti-warship missiles across the Bashi channel on the first chain. That same year, the PLA Air Force began to switch to longer-range missiles, that is a 6K bomber equipped with long-range missiles.
- Starting 2015, 6K bombers crossed the Bashi channel and Miyako strait of the first chain, reaching the western Pacific.
- In 2016, the 6K bomber acquired defense capabilities from early warning aircraft systems and accompanying fighter jets.
- Also in 2017 the PLA increased the number of 'circumnavigation missions'.
Japan
The Cabinet of Japan passed a defense white paper emphasizing the 'threat of the Chinese navy'. In Japan's report on the frequent PLAN activities, there were many mentions of the first and second island chains. The movements of the PLAN are often linked to breaking through the island chains.In 2009 July, Hong Kong's Asia Weekly published an article saying that Japan pushed 500 km towards China by stationing troops on the island of Yonaguni. This was a move not only strengthening control over the Diaoyu Islands and improving first chain military containment of the mainland, but also preparing for preemptive strike in case of potential conflict with mainland China.
Japan's strategic position in the first chain began with US-Japan joint efforts to counter Soviet expansion. The current PLAN strategy imitates the defensive thinking of the Soviet navy during the Cold war. During the cold war, the Soviet navy drew the Sea of Okhotsk red line to warn periphery countries not to enter. Likewise the PLAN strategy imitates these methods to control the South, East, Yellow seas, etc. in the areas associated with the first and second island chains. As a result, the PLA is using many of the Soviet-era Cold war equipment and weapons. Japan's self defense force mainly plays the role of protecting US military bases and preserving military strength in the face of China. As for Japan's Territorial Protection Self-Defense Forces, which mainly rely on islands in southern Japan adjacent to the Yellow Sea and the East China Sea, Japan has strong military advantages in anti-submarine, air defense and sea mine technologies. Previous experience in competing with the Soviet Union has given Japan a clearer direction to cooperate with the US military in confronting the PLA's naval and air forces.