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| US Marines during a beach assault exercise (File Photo) |
By Zachary Keck
Japan’s Defense Ministry is considering creating a special island assault unit to help it deal with Tokyo’s ongoing standoff with China over the Diaoyu/Senkaku Islands.
In a meeting of the ruling-Liberal Democracy Party (LDP) this week, defense officials said the new unit would be trained to fortify islands and, if necessary, recapture ones that were lost, a number of Japanese media outlets reported. The new special assault unit would supplement the Self-Defense Force Western Army Infantry Regiment, which is made up of Special Forces modeled off the U.S. Marine Corps who are located in Nagasaki Prefecture and responsible for protecting remote islands like the Senkakus.
The proposed special assault unit was part of a larger LDP effort to strengthen Japan’s Self Defense Force’s (SDF) capabilities for dealing with challenges to remote islands. Tokyo previously announced plans to expand the size of the Western Army Infantry Regiment during the current fiscal year ending in March, the Japan Times reported.
Read the full story at The Diplomat