Japan considers raising troop level over China naval activities

Mon, 22 Nov 2010

Tokyo - Japan is considering doubling the number of ground troops deployed on south-western islands near China and Taiwan to 4,000 due to mounting Chinese naval activities, a news report said Monday.

The new troops would be deployed near a chain of islands stretching from Kagoshima on the southern tip of Japan to Okinawa island near Taiwan, Kyodo News reported, citing unnamed defense sources. China has been boosting its naval activities in the area.

The move could be carried out under the Defense Department's troop allocation program which will be re-evaluated at the end of this year, Kyodo said.

Tension had risen between Japan and China following a Chinese fishing boat's collision in early September with Japanese coastguard vessels off a set of disputed islets near the Japanese-controlled Senkaku Islands, which China also claims as its territory.

The collision and the subsequent arrest of the trawler captain led to the worst diplomatic row in several years between the two countries.

Source: Earth Times.
Link: http://www.earthtimes.org/articles/news/354607,level-china-naval-activities.html.