Marine unit (Japan) - Garner Ted Armstrong Evangelistic Association

Chinese government wary as Japan unveils first marine unit since WWII

Yoko Wakatsuki, Ben Westcott and Brad Lendon, CNN — Mon, 09 Apr 2018 07:10:10 +0000

Japan’s new amphibious rapid deployment brigade training on Saturday, April 7.

(CNN) The Chinese government has reacted warily to the establishment of a new Japanese amphibious special unit, designed to repel invasions on Japan’s remote islands.

Japan and China have a long history of territorial disputes over islands in the East China Sea, in particular a rocky, uninhabited island chain known as the Diaoyu Islands in Beijing and the Senkaku in Tokyo.

The Japanese Self Defense Force debuted their newly formed Amphibious Rapid Deployment Brigade (ARDB) on Saturday, at a military display near Sasebo, on the southwestern tip of Kyushu Island.

Japan’s new amphibious rapid deployment brigade training on Saturday, April 7.

About 1,500 members of the new unit conducted a public exercise, camouflaged with khaki stripes, imitating recapturing a Japanese island from an invading army.

The unit gives Japan its first marine troops since World War II.

In an editorial on Sunday, Chinese state media tabloid Global Times said Asia needed to watch Japan’s “militarism revival.”

“Some question if the Japanese government may consider using safeguarding territorial integrity as an excuse to revive militarism, to which regional countries must stay on high alert,” the article said.

Tensions have regularly flared between China and Japan over the islands in the East China Sea, including in 2017 when three Chinese Coast Guard ships sailed near to the islands, sparking a diplomatic
war of words.

Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Geng Shuang said Monday Japan’s military moves were being followed closely by their Asian neighbors “for historical reasons.”

Relations between Beijing and Tokyo have been strained since the end of the Second World War, stemming from the Japan’s wartime occupation of mainland China.

Japan’s amphibious forces growing.

The new Japanese unit was announced by Defense Minister Itsunori Onodera at the Ministry of Defense on March 31, who said it would be composed of about 2,100 personnel.

“In the event of an invasion of a remote island, its task will be promptly landing on the island and regaining and securing it,”

Onodera said at a press conference.

Split into two amphibious deployment regiments, the unit is equipped with amphibious vehicles and will continue training with US military forces, a Japan Self Defense Forces press release said.

China sails into disputed waters, prompting protest by Japan

Defense Minister Onodera added the brigade would continue training with US-built military aircraft, the V-22 Ospreys, which can be used for long-range flights and take off and land like helicopters.

Japan’s naval forces also have ships well-suited to amphibious operations, including its helicopter destroyers, four of which have been commissioned in the past decade.

Those ships, which look a lot like a small aircraft carrier, could be configured to carry stealthy F-35B fighter jets, which can land vertically. They are also platforms that accommodate the V-22.

Despite the activation of the new unit and the hardware supporting it, Japan’s marines are far from being an effective fighting force, according to Grant Newsham, senior research fellow at the Japan Forum for Strategic Studies.

Newsham said in a blog post Japan must be able to integrate the marines with its air and naval forces.

“Amphibious operations are complex, effectively three-dimensional as they involve operations afloat, ashore, and in the air,” Newsham wrote on the Japan Forward website. If other branches can’t deliver and protect a landing force, it won’t accomplish its mission, he said.

The Chinese government has repeatedly said it would be prepared to defend the islands claimed by Beijing in the East China Sea if they were taken by force.

On March 31, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Lu Kang called on Japan to “adopt a correct historical view” after the government approved a series of education textbooks labelling the Senkaku Islands as undisputed Japanese territory.”

China resolutely defends its territorial sovereignty and any attempt to infringe upon China’s sovereignty over Diaoyu Islands will be futile,” Lu said according to Xinhua.

Japan’s military revival

Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe has long sought to change his country’s pacifist constitution, adopted after the Second World War, to allow Japan to maintain armed forces.

In May 2017, Abe said he wanted to have the constitution altered and a new version in place by 2020. “I strongly wish to make 2020 the year that the reborn Japan will make a new start,” he said at the time.

Japanese leader sets 2020 deadline for changing pacifist constitution.

In recent years, aggressive actions by North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, including firing missiles over Japanese territory, have given Abe’s complaints about the constitution a sense of urgency.

Currently Japan has a military known as the Self-Defense Forces, but the constitution bars it from “the threat or use of force as means of settling international disputes.”

Despite the constitution and its restrictions, Japan maintains one of the strongest armed forces in the world, according to analysts.

But Japan’s military revival is controversial in the Asian region, particularly in China and South Korea, due to deep sensitivities about the country’s role in World War II.

Speaking on Monday, a rival to Abe inside his Liberal Democratic Party warned against a hurried push towards revising the constitution, saying the ruling party needed to consider “how we distribute our political energy,” according to local media.

Source: https://www.cnn.com/2018/04/09/asia/china-japan-island-drill-intl/index.html

[Disclaimer]

The post Chinese government wary as Japan unveils first marine unit since WWII first appeared on Garner Ted Armstrong Evangelistic Association.

Japan activates first marines since WW2 to bolster defenses against China

Today Online — Sun, 08 Apr 2018 10:19:21 +0000

REUTERS Soldiers of Japanese Ground Self-Defense Force (JGSDF)’s Amphibious Rapid Deployment Brigade, Japan’s first marine unit since World War Two, gather at a ceremony activating the brigade at JGSDF’s Camp Ainoura in Sasebo.

SASEBO/TOKYO — Japan on Saturday (April 7) activated its first marine unit since World War Two trained to counter invaders occupying Japanese islands along the edge of the East China Sea that Tokyo fears are vulnerable to attack by China.

In a ceremony held at a military base near Sasebo on the southwest island of Kyushu, about 1,500 members of the Amphibious Rapid Deployment Brigade (ARDB) wearing camouflage lined up outside amid cold, windy weather.

“Given the increasingly difficult defense and security situation surrounding Japan, defense of our islands has become a critical mandate,” Mr Tomohiro Yamamoto, vice defense minister, said in a speech.

The troops conducted a 20-minute mock public exercise recapturing a remote island from invaders.

The formation of the Japanese marine brigade is controversial because amphibious units can project military force and could, critics warn, be used to threaten Japan’s neighbors. In its post World War Two constitution Japan renounced the right to wage war.

The brigade is the latest component of a growing marine force that includes helicopter carriers, amphibious ships, Osprey tilt-rotor troop carriers and amphibious assault vehicles, meant to deter China as it pushes for easier access to the Western Pacific.

China, which dominates the South China Sea, is outpacing Japan in defense spending. In 2018, Beijing which claims a group of uninhabited islets in the East China Sea controlled by Tokyo, will spend 1.11 trillion yuan (US$176.56 billion) on its armed forces, more than three times as much as Japan.

The activation of the 2,100 strong ARDB takes Japan a step closer to creating a force similar to a US Marine Expeditionary Unit (MEU) able to plan and execute operations at sea far from its home base.

“They’ve already demonstrated the ability to put together an ad hoc MEU. But to have a solid, standing MEU capability requires concerted effort,” Mr Grant Newsham, a research fellow at the Japan Forum for Strategic Studies.

“If Japan put its mind to it, within a year or year and a half it could have a reasonable capability.”

Mr Newsham, who helped train Japan’s first amphibious troops as a US Marine Corps colonel liaison officer assigned to the Ground Self Defense Force (GSDF), said Japan still needs a joint navy-army amphibious headquarters to coordinate operations as well as more amphibious ships to carry troops and equipment.

Japanese military planners are already mulling some of those additions. Its Air Self Defense Force (ASDF) wants to acquire F-35Bs to operate from its Izumo and Ise helicopter carriers, or from islands along the East China Sea, sources have told Reuters.

The United States last month deployed its F-35Bs for their first at-sea operations aboard the USS Wasp amphibious assault ship, which is based in Sasebo. The Kyushu port is also home to Japan’s Ise and close to the ARDB’s base.

Separately the GSDF may acquire small amphibious ships up to a 100 meters (328.08 ft) long to transport troops and equipment between islands and from ship to shore, two sources familiar with the discussion said. Japanese ground forces have not operated their own ships since World War Two.

“The idea is to bring forces and gear on large ships to the main Okinawa island and then disperse them to other islands on smaller vessels,” said one of the sources, who asked not to be identified because they are not authorized to talk to the media. REUTERS

Source: http://www.todayonline.com/world/japan-activates-first-marines-ww2-bolster-defenses-against-china

[Disclaimer]

The post Japan activates first marines since WW2 to bolster defenses against China first appeared on Garner Ted Armstrong Evangelistic Association.