The first island chain refers to the first chain of major West Pacific archipelagos out from the East Asian continental coast. It is principally composed of the Kuril Islands, the Japanese archipelago, the Ryukyu Islands, Taiwan (Formosa), the northern Philippines, and Borneo, hence extending all the way from the Kamchatka Peninsula in the northeast to the Malay Peninsula in the southwest. The first island chain forms one of three island chain doctrines within the island chain strategy in the U.S. foreign policy.[1][2]
Much of the first island chain roughly surrounds the claimed territorial waters of China that are also disputed by the neighboring countries.[3] These include the Taiwan strait, the South China Sea within the nine-dash line, as well as the East China Sea west of the Okinawa Trough.
© MMXXIII Rich X Search. We shall prevail. All rights reserved. Rich X Search