20th+: 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 (Formosa), 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.

Much of the first island chain is roughly situated in waters claimed 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.

US General Douglas MacArthur pointed out that before WW2, 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 (Taiwan at the time part of Japan's empire) and launched the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. The WW2 victory allowed the US to expand its line of defense further west 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'.

The Island Chain Strategy is a strategy first mentioned by American foreign policy commentator John Foster Dulles in 1951 during the Korean War. It suggests surrounding the Soviet Union and China by sea. The island chain concept did not become a major theme in American policy, but it has become a major fixation of both American and Chinese analysts to this day. For the U.S. the island chain strategy is a big part of the military of the United States's force projection in the Eastern part of Asia. For Chinese, the concept is used as part of their fears of encirclement by American forces. For both sides, the island chain strategy emphasizes the geographical and strategic importance of Taiwan. The primary target of the doctrine was the USSR; however, additional targets also included the People's Republic of China, Vietnam, and North Korea. After the USSR collapsed in 1991, China soon became the major target of the doctrine.

In 2014 April, the United States Naval Institute (USNI) assessed that the first island chain is the most effective point to counter any Chinese invasion. The US could not only cut off the People's Liberation Army Navy from entering the western Pacific, but also predict where they may move before trying to break through in the first place. The US and first chain countries are able to coordinate because of the US military's freedom of navigation in the first chain block. In June 2019, USNI called for a blockade of the first island chain if armed conflict broke out between China and the United States.

Andrew Krepinevich argued that an "archipelagic defense" of the countries that make up the first island chain would make up a big part of the implementation of the national defense strategy of 2018.

A 2019 report by the Center for Strategic and Budgetary Assessments "proposes a U.S. military strategy of Maritime Pressure and a supporting joint operational concept, “Inside-Out” Defense, to stabilize the military balance in the Western Pacific and deny China the prospect of a successful fait accompli." The first island chain plays a central role in the report.

In 2020, the United States Marine Corps started shifting its tactics in conjunction with the United States Navy to be deployed along or near the first island chain. In 2021, the United States Marine Corps announced a goal of three additional Pacific-based regiments.

In the first island chain, Taiwan is considered of critical strategic importance. It is located at the midpoint of the first chain and occupies a strategic position.

21-10-1 Taiwan says record 38 Chinese planes entered defence zone .

23-2-1 US secures deal on Philippines bases to complete arc around China: The US has secured access to four additional military bases in the Philippines - a key bit of real estate which would offer a front seat to monitor the Chinese in the South China Sea and around Taiwan. With this deal, Washington has stitched the gap in the arc of US alliances stretching from South Korea and Japan in the north to Australia in the south.

The missing link had been the Philippines, which borders two of the biggest potential flashpoints, Taiwan and the South China Sea, or the West Philippine Sea as Manila insists on calling it.

The US already had limited access to five sites under the Enhanced Defense Cooperation Agreement (EDCA) - the new additions and expanded access, according to a statement from Washington, will "allow more rapid support for humanitarian and climate-related disasters in the Philippines, and respond to other shared challenges", likely a veiled reference to countering China in the region.

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