Chinese carrier-based fighters reportedly radar-locked Japanese F-15s near Okinawa — and that detail matters more than most headlines suggest. Okinawa isn’t just Japanese airspace. It’s the front gate of the First Island Chain, the logistics spine for any Taiwan contingency, and home to major US–Japan joint bases. When pressure shows up here, it’s never “just about Japan.”

Now watch the timing. This incident lands alongside a renewed push in Chinese media to revive the “Ryukyu Kingdom” historical narrative — questioning Japan’s post-war sovereignty over Okinawa without firing a single shot. Military pressure in the sky. Historical pressure in the information space. This is textbook multi-domain signaling.

Does this mean China is invading Okinawa? No. That would mean instant war with the United States. But it does suggest something deeper: shaping the battlespace psychologically and politically before any Taiwan crisis ever begins. If you can inject uncertainty into Okinawa’s status, you complicate alliance unity, base legitimacy, and regional response timing — all without declaring war.

Radar locks near Okinawa aren’t about dogfighting. They’re about messaging. And in this region, every message is ultimately about Taiwan, whether it mentions Taiwan or not.

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