The US wants to disperse US Marine units throughout Japan’s Okinawa islands by 2026, arming them with missiles and lighter gear to deter China’s military, and would discuss the plan with Tokyo in Washington, the Yomiuri Shimbun reported.
The US has already told Japan about the reorganization, which it would announce after a two-plus-two meeting in Washington today between the Japanese ministers of defense and foreign affairs and their US counterparts, the paper reported.
A Japanese Ministry of Foreign Affairs official declined to comment about the report, but said Japan and the US “will discuss matters regarding issues on the US Forces Japan, including the realignment of the US Forces Japan.”
Photo: Reuters
The creation of the new units, called Marine Littoral Regiments, is part of a major reorganization of the US Marine Corps outlined by its commandant, General David Berger, in 2020.
At the time Berger said that he wanted those units to work closely with Japan’s Self-Defense Forces to prevent easy access to the Pacific for the Chinese military.
In response to a question about the possible deployment of the new units, Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokesman Wang Wenbin (汪文斌) told a regular news conference yesterday that bilateral military cooperation between the US and Japan “should not harm the interests of third parties, and regional peace and stability.”
Under the littoral regiment concept, the US Marines are cutting aircraft numbers, and dumping most of their cannon artillery and heavy armor in favor of smaller “dispersed” forces equipped with missiles and drones that can operate in contested areas.
Japan hosts 18,000 US Marines, the biggest concentration outside the US. Most of them are in bases in Okinawa, which is part of a chain that stretches along the edge of the East China Sea to within about 100km of Taiwan.
In related news, Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida and French President Emmanuel Macron on Monday pledged more security cooperation in the Asia-Pacific region as Kishida made his first visit to France since taking office.
Japan holds the presidency of the G7 and Kishida on Monday began a tour of fellow members France, Italy, the UK, Canada and the US.
In a joint statement with Macron on Monday evening, the Japanese prime minister said he was looking forward to more cooperation with France in the Asia-Pacific region.
“France is a leading partner for the realization of a free and open Indo-Pacific,” Kishida said.
“As unilateral attempts to change by force the status quo in the East and South China Sea intensify and the security environment becomes increasingly tense, we wish to continue to cooperate with France,” he said, alluding to joint military drills.
The Japanese government approved a major defense policy overhaul last month, including a significant spending hike, as it warned China posed the “greatest strategic challenge ever” to its security.
Macron said France and Japan would continue their “joint actions in the Indo-Pacific.”
Kishida is scheduled to meet US President Joe Biden on Friday.
LONG FLIGHT: The jets would be flown by US pilots, with Taiwanese copilots in the two-seat F-16D variant to help familiarize them with the aircraft, the source said The US is expected to fly 10 Lockheed Martin F-16C/D Block 70/72 jets to Taiwan over the coming months to fulfill a long-awaited order of 66 aircraft, a defense official said yesterday. Word that the first batch of the jets would be delivered soon was welcome news to Taiwan, which has become concerned about delays in the delivery of US arms amid rising military tensions with China. Speaking on condition of anonymity, the official said the initial tranche of the nation’s F-16s are rolling off assembly lines in the US and would be flown under their own power to Taiwan by way
‘OF COURSE A COUNTRY’: The president outlined that Taiwan has all the necessary features of a nation, including citizens, land, government and sovereignty President William Lai (賴清德) discussed the meaning of “nation” during a speech in New Taipei City last night, emphasizing that Taiwan is a country as he condemned China’s misinterpretation of UN Resolution 2758. The speech was the first in a series of 10 that Lai is scheduled to give across Taiwan. It is the responsibility of Taiwanese citizens to stand united to defend their national sovereignty, democracy, liberty, way of life and the future of the next generation, Lai said. This is the most important legacy the people of this era could pass on to future generations, he said. Lai went on to discuss
MISSION: The Indo-Pacific region is ‘the priority theater,’ where the task of deterrence extends across the entire region, including Taiwan, the US Pacific Fleet commander said The US Navy’s “mission of deterrence” in the Indo-Pacific theater applies to Taiwan, Pacific Fleet Commander Admiral Stephen Koehler told the South China Sea Conference on Tuesday. The conference, organized by the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS), is an international platform for senior officials and experts from countries with security interests in the region. “The Pacific Fleet’s mission is to deter aggression across the Western Pacific, together with our allies and partners, and to prevail in combat if necessary, Koehler said in the event’s keynote speech. “That mission of deterrence applies regionwide — including the South China Sea and Taiwan,” he
UNPRECEDENTED: In addition to the approved recall motions, cases such as Ma Wen-chun’s in Nantou are still under review, while others lack enough signatures The Central Election Commission (CEC) announced yesterday that a recall vote would take place on July 26, after it approved the first batch of recall motions targeting 24 Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) lawmakers and Hsinchu Mayor Ann Kao (高虹安). Taiwan is in the midst of an unprecedented wave of mass recall campaigns, following a civil society push that echoed a call made by Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) caucus whip Ker Chien-ming (柯建銘) in January to initiate signature drives aimed at unseating KMT legislators. Under the Civil Servants Election and Recall Act (公職人員選舉罷免法), Taiwanese can initiate a recall of district-elected lawmakers by collecting