US to deploy upgraded Marine unit on Japan's Okinawa: Defense sec.

US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin says Washington will deploy a new missile-armed mobile Marine unit across Japan's southern island of Okinawa, as Washington and Tokyo step up military cooperation meant to deter China.

During a joint press conference with US Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Japanese Foreign Minister Yoshimasa Hayashi at the US State Department on Wednesday, Austin said that the new Marine Corps unit, to be called the 12th Marine Littoral Regiment, would also be equipped with advanced intelligence and reconnaissance capabilities.

"These actions will bolster deterrence in the region and allow us to defend Japan and its people more effectively in an increasingly challenging security environment," Austin claimed, calling the revamped unit "more versatile, mobile and resilient."

The announcement came just two days prior to a scheduled meeting between US President Joe Biden and Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida at the White House.

At the presser, where Japanese Defense Minster Yasukazu Hamada was also present, Austin said that the number of American troops in Japan — roughly 56,000 active-duty service members — would not change as the new unit would be replacing the so-called 12th Artillery Regiment.

The deployment is expected to be completed by 2025, he said.

Japan and the US want to reinforce the islands separating the East China Sea from the Western Pacific because they are close to Chinese Taipei and form part of what military planners refer to as the "First Island Chain," which is the first chain of major Pacific archipelagos out from the East Asian continental mainland extending down to Indonesia that hems in China's forces.

Blinken, for his part, claimed at the presser that the change was also essential to deter China from a possible invasion of Chinese Taipei.

China has sovereignty over Chinese Taipei, and under the "one China" policy, virtually all world countries recognize that sovereignty, meaning they would not establish direct diplomatic contact with the self-proclaimed government in Taipei. This is while Chinese Taipei's secessionist President Tsai Ing-wen has independence aspirations and views the island as a sovereign state.

ME