Japan's military is stepping up its defense of islands also claimed by China and Taiwan, and will propose talks with India on diplomatic and security issues as part of attempts to counter China's growing military might in Asia, a report said yesterday.
The report came days after Japanese Foreign Minister Taro Aso said Beijing poses "a considerable military threat" because it has nuclear weapons and is boosting its military spending. China called the remarks irresponsible and groundless.
According to Japan's largest business newspaper, the Nihon Keizai Shimbun, Japan's Self-Defense Forces will conduct joint exercises with the US Marine Corps this month and develop short-range torpedoes tailored for combat in shallow waters to strengthen its ability to repulse a possible Chinese invasion of the disputed East China Sea islands.
Japan envisions a scenario in which China would invade the islets, called the Diaoyutais (
About 125 Japanese troops will be sent to San Diego, California, in January for joint exercises with US Marines simulating a landing on an occupied island, the report said.
Self-Defense Forces officials could not immediately be reached for comment on the report, but earlier said the two countries plan joint training by the end of March.
The Nihon Keizai also said Japan will propose bilateral talks with India on diplomatic and security issues -- and on holding regular visits by their respective defense ministers -- in part to discuss ways to curb China's growing influence in Asia.
Aso will also raise the issue on a trip to India starting Tuesday, it said. He is slated to meet President Abdul Kalam and Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, and is also scheduled to visit Pakistan.
Japan plans to propose regular discussions between the Japanese and Indian foreign ministers on both nations' bids for permanent UN Security Council seats, the creation of a pan-Asian economic and strategic community, and military affairs in Asia, it said.
Aso also will invite Indian Defense Minister Shri Pranab Mukherjee to visit Japan in the spring, the Nihon Keizai said.
Japan-China tensions have grown along with Beijing's spectacular rise as an economic and military power.
The two countries are sparring over issues including territorial and resource disputes, history and Japan's military alliance with the US.
Relations soured further several days ago, when Beijing denounced Tokyo for claiming that Chinese spies drove a Japanese consulate employee to commit suicide last year in Shanghai.
Tokyo has given no further details, but Japanese media say the consulate employee was a communications specialist who took his life after Chinese agents pressured him for secret information. Beijing has denied the allegations.
also see story:
Japan tried to `hide' suicide
PRECISION STRIKES: The most significant reason to deploy HIMARS to outlying islands is to establish a ‘dead zone’ that the PLA would not dare enter, a source said A High Mobility Artillery Rocket System (HIMARS) would be deployed to Penghu County and Dongyin Island (東引) in Lienchiang County (Matsu) to force the Chinese military to retreat at least 100km from the coastline, a military source said yesterday. Taiwan has been procuring HIMARS and Army Tactical Missile Systems (ATACMS) from the US in batches. Once all batches have been delivered, Taiwan would possess 111 HIMARS units and 504 ATACMS, which have a range of 300km. Considering that “offense is the best defense,” the military plans to forward-deploy the systems to outlying islands such as Penghu and Dongyin so that
WHAT WAS ALL THAT FOR? Jaw Shaw-kong said that Cheng Li-wen had pushed for more drastic cuts and attacked him, just for the outcome to be nearly identical to his bill The legislature yesterday passed a supplementary budget bill to fund the purchase of separate packages of US military equipment, with the combined amount of spending capped at NT$780 billion (US$24.8 billion). The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) and Taiwan People’s Party (TPP) used their legislative majority to pass the bill, which runs until 2033 and has two main funding provisions. One was for NT$300 billion of arms sales already approved by the US for Taiwan on Dec. 17 last year, the other was for NT$480 billion for another arms package expected to be announced by Washington. The bill, which fell short of the NT$1.25
‘CLEAR MESSAGE’: The bill would set up an interagency ‘tiger team’ to review sanctions tools and other economic options to help deter any Chinese aggression toward Taiwan US Representative Young Kim has introduced a bill to deter Chinese aggression against Taiwan, calling for an interagency “tiger team” to preplan coordinated sanctions and economic measures in response to possible Chinese military or political action against Taiwan. “[Chinese President] Xi Jinping [習近平] has directed the People’s Liberation Army to be ready to invade Taiwan by 2027. China has a plan. America should have one too,” Kim said in a news release on Thursday last week. She introduced the “Deter PRC [People’s Republic of China] aggression against Taiwan act” to “ensure the US has a coordinated sanctions strategy ready should
A former television news host and six military personnel — active and retired — have been indicted on espionage charges, Kaohsiung prosecutors said yesterday. Lin Chen-you (林宸佑), a former CTi News host and YouTuber, last year allegedly made videos at the direction of a Chinese agent criticizing the Democratic Progressive Party’s recall campaign, the Ciaotou District Prosecutors’ Office told a news conference in Kaohsiung. He allegedly received 4,325 tether coins for the videos from an unidentified person surnamed Huang (黃), believed to be an agent of a hostile foreign power, they said. Lin, also known as Ma Te (馬德), has a show named
RSS