Explainer: Why the U.S. is overhauling its marines on Japan's Okinawa
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[January 11, 2023]
By Tim Kelly
TOKYO (Reuters) - The United States plans to shake up its marine force
on Japan's Okinawa islands as Tokyo undertakes its biggest military
build up since World War Two that will double defence spending over five
years to deter China from attacking Taiwan or nearby Japanese islands.
Japan and the United States want to reinforce the islands separating the
East China Sea from the Western Pacific because they are close to Taiwan
and form part of what military planners refer to as the 'First Island
Chain' extending down to Indonesia, that hems in China's forces.
Tokyo fears the loss of Taiwan to mainland China would threaten shipping
lanes that supply its oil and would undermine U.S. influence in the
region.
The U.S. military presence on Okinawa, which began during World War Two,
includes most of the 18,000 U.S. marines stationed in Japan. American
bases cover around 8% of the main Okinawa island, stirring resentment
among locals who want other parts of Japan to host the troops.
MARINE LITTORAL REGIMENTS
The U.S. Marine Corps is creating 'Marine Littoral Regiments' of around
2,000 troops as part of restructuring plan proposed by the Marine
Commandant General David Berger in 2020.
Armed with missiles and drones, these units are meant to operate as
reconnaissance and strike forces in contested maritime theatres.
Under Berger's plan, a leaner Marine Corps will dump much of its heavy
artillery and armour, including all its battle tanks.
Dispersing marine units across Okinawa, even if only temporarily, could
see U.S. troops return to islands along the chain for the first time
since Washington returned Okinawa to Japanese control in 1972.
Yonaguni at the western end of the chain is only around 100 kilometres
(62 miles) from Taiwan.
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The 8th Air Wing of Japan Air
Self-Defense Force's F-2 fighters hold a joint military drill with
the U.S. 28th Bomb Wing's B-1B bombers and 35th Fighter Wing's F-16
fighters off Japan's southernmost main island of Kyushu, Japan, in
this handout picture taken by Japan Air Self-Defence Force and
released by the Joint Staff Office of the Defense Ministry of Japan
November 5, 2022. Joint Staff Office of the Defense Ministry of
Japan/HANDOUT via REUTERS
JAPAN'S OKINAWA PIVOT
To reinforce Okinawa, Japan is building new anti-ship and air
defence missile bases, and radar stations, including one on Yonaguni,
it hopes will deter Chinese forces from attacking.
Japan is also developing new, longer-range missiles and plans to buy
U.S. Tomahawk cruise missiles that could potentially hit targets in
China.
Those weapons, along with anti-ship missiles fielded in Okinawa by
the new littoral regiments, could help close a growing missile gap
with China, say experts.
Deploying U.S. marines to the new Japanese bases temporarily could
also spur closer defence coordination between Tokyo and Washington
as a militarily stronger Japan seeks a bigger role in its
decades-old alliance with Washington.
"Defense needs to be a combined affair, with Japanese and American
capabilities and resources seamlessly linked together," said Grant
Newsham, a retired U.S. Marine Corps colonel and research fellow at
the Japan Forum for Strategic Studies who served as a liaison
officer to the SDF.
"This improves training opportunities and also lets you move about
and operate in the area you most likely will have to fight in," he
added.
(Reporting by Tim Kelly; Editing by Kim Coghill)
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