In a move that is sure to generate yet another unintentionally hilarious China Post editorial fulmination, it's "Japan eyes doubling ground troops on islands close to China, Taiwan", courtesy of Japan Today:
"The Defense Ministry 防衛省 is considering doubling the number of ground troops deployed in Okinawa 沖縄 and other Nansei islands 南西諸島 in southwestern Japan close to China and Taiwan to 4,000 by 2014 under its basic defense program to be updated at the end of this year, defense sources said Sunday. In the new National Defense Program Outline, the full strength of the Ground Self-Defense Force 陸上自衛隊 would be stipulated as 157,000, the sources added. The figure is less than the 168,000 personnel stated in the ministry’s initial plan but 2,000 more than the current 155,000. The new troops will be deployed in the islands as part of Japanese efforts to step up vigilance against China, which has been increasing naval activities in areas around the Nansei Islands, a chain of islands stretching from southern Kagoshima 鹿児島 to Okinawa prefectures near Taiwan. Tension grew between the two countries following collisions in September between a Chinese trawler and Japanese patrol vessels near the Japanese-controlled Senkaku Islands 尖閣諸島, which are also claimed by China."
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