After the finalization of new guidelines for defense cooperation between the United States and Japan, Tokyo is ready to deploy its Self-Defense Force to the Okinawa islands of Miyako and Ishigaki to face potential Chinese maritime expansion in the East China Sea, the Nippon Hoso Kyokai reports.
Japan wants to deploy troops to the two islands as a response to the now routine patrols by Chinese maritime security ships in the disputed East China Sea after the Japanese government nationalized the Diaoyutai islands (Senkaku to Japan, Diaoyu to China) in 2012. Japan will deploy a radar station to the western part of Yonaguni, only 110 kilometers away from Hualien on Taiwan's east coast, to monitor PLA naval movements.
Read the full story at Want China Times