Japan expands defense of its southern front line to counter China
Japan has moved hundreds of troops, including missile units, into a new base built on a remote island near China and Taiwan as its seeks to bolster its defensive capabilities in the region.
Up to 570 Ground Self-Defense Force members will be stationed at the newly established garrison on Ishigaki island in Okinawa prefecture, the country’s military said, confirming the troops moved in on Thursday.
Ishigaki, which is famous among holidaymakers and scuba divers for its tropical waters, is located just 200 kilometers south of the Japanese-controlled Senkaku Islands, an uninhabited island chain also claimed by China and Taiwan.
The islands, which are known in China as the Diaoyu Islands and Diaoyutai in Taiwan, have become one of the focus points of increasing tensions in the region.
Among the units dispatched on Thursday were missile squads capable of launching land-to-ship and land-to-air missiles, according to the Japanese forces.
Japan has been ramping up the construction of military bases in Okinawa, the band of 150 islands that curves to the south of Japan’s main islands in the East China Sea.
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