Japan, the US, practice defending the Senkakus

The Taipei Times notes that Japan is send a small force of its own troops to practice with US marines. The two countries will simulate an invasion of the Diaoyutai (Senkaku) Islands:

According to Japan's largest business newspaper, the Nihon Keizai Shimbun, Japan's Self-Defense Forces will conduct joint exercises with the US Marine Corps this month and develop short-range torpedoes tailored for combat in shallow waters to strengthen its ability to repulse a possible Chinese invasion of the disputed East China Sea islands.

Japan envisions a scenario in which China would invade the islets, called the Diaoyutais (釣魚台) in China and Taiwan and the Senkaku in Japan, the newspaper said.

About 125 Japanese troops will be sent to San Diego, California, in January for joint exercises with US Marines simulating a landing on an occupied island, the report said.

It is hard to imagine China invading the Senkakus without a prior invasion of Taiwan, or an invasion of the Senkakus that wouldn't eventually drag in Taiwan. Hence the "Senkakus" here seems more like a surrogate for Taiwan itself. The exercise seems more of a trumpet call to China that Japan and the US will not sit idly by.

Good.

This image from Asia Times illustrates some of Japan's territorial disputes and gives the location of the Senkakus.

In addition to the increasingly more open US-Japan anti-China alliance, readers should also take note of the burgeoning India-Japan relationship:

The Nihon Keizai also said Japan will propose bilateral talks with India on diplomatic and security issues -- and on holding regular visits by their respective defense ministers -- in part to discuss ways to curb China's growing influence in Asia.

Aso will also raise the issue on a trip to India starting Tuesday, it said. He is slated to meet President Abdul Kalam and Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, and is also scheduled to visit Pakistan.

Japan plans to propose regular discussions between the Japanese and Indian foreign ministers on both nations' bids for permanent UN Security Council seats, the creation of a pan-Asian economic and strategic community, and military affairs in Asia, it said.

In the years to come expect India to become an increasingly important player in E. Asian power politics.

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