Japan’s protection minister, visiting a army base near Taiwan, mentioned plans to deploy missiles to the submit have been on monitor as tensions smolder between Tokyo and Beijing over the East Asian island.

“The deployment can assist decrease the prospect of an armed assault on our nation,” Shinjiro Koizumi informed reporters on Sunday as he wrapped up his first journey to the bottom on the southern Japanese island of Yonaguni. “The view that it’ll heighten regional tensions will not be correct.”

Japan is planning to station medium-range surface-to-air missiles on Yonaguni, about 110 kilometers east of Taiwan, as a part of a broader army build-up on its southern island chain. The strikes replicate Tokyo’s considerations about China’s rising army energy and the potential for a conflict over Taiwan.