by Jim Morris, Warrior Vice President, News
The Marine Corps is reorganizing some of its forces in Asia to counter the growing threat from China.
In an interview last week with Japan’s Nikkei news agency, Marine Commandant Eric Smith said that a new unit has been established on the Japanese island of Okinawa to counter what he called Chinese aggression. The unit is called the Marine Littoral Regiment (MLR) and it’s designed to move quickly to come to the defense of remote islands that come under attack.
Smith said the MLR’s purpose is to protect the Japanese home islands, the Philippines and South Korea. Smith didn’t mention Taiwan, but Okinawa is less than 500 miles from Japan and US forces based on the island could come to Taiwan’s aid in case of a Chinese attack.
The new Marine unit has around 2,000 troops. Smith told Nikkei the Marines will set up a similar unit on Guam in a few years. Some Marines currently based in Okinawa will be transferred to Guam starting in December.
Smith was asked if these measures would be enough to deter Chinese aggression.
“If they don’t want to have their ships sunk, then it will be enough to deter them,” he said. “Because if they were to attack the Philippines or Japan, then it would be a very bad day for them.”
The Marine move is one more sign that the US is boosting its military presence in Asia.
Last year, Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin said the Pentagon would increase the deployment of advanced fighter jets and bombers to South Korea. Washington and Seoul also agreed to expand joint military exercises, including live-fire drills.
Meanwhile, the US and the Philippines are continuing to strengthen their alliance. Large-scale joint exercises involving some 16,000 troops have been held in the Philippines in the last few months. Plus, President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. has agreed to give American troops more access to military bases.
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And during the recent maneuvers, the US deployed medium-range missiles in the Philippines- the first time since the Cold War the US has placed such missiles in Asia. The Typhon launcher can fire the Tomahawk cruise missile and the SM-6 supersonic missile. Those two missiles could strike targets in the Taiwan Strait and the South China Sea – along with cities on China’s eastern coast.
That prompted China to accuse the US of “strengthening forward deployment on China’s doorstep to seek unilateral military advantage.”
China’s recent moves against the Philippines – violently intercepting Philippine naval boats resupplying a small unit in disputed waters of the South China Sea – prompted some to ask whether the US-Philippines mutual defense treaty could be invoked. Marcos’s aides quieted that speculation last week, saying they did not consider the confrontation an armed attack that would trigger the treaty’s provisions.
As for Taiwan, the commander of the US Indo-Pacific Command told the Washington he would turn the Taiwan Strait into an “unmanned hellscape” in case of a Chinese attack on the island.
Admiral Samuel Paparo’s plan calls for launching thousands of aerial, surface and underwater drones. Paparo said the goal would be to make the Chinese forces miserable for a month, which would buy the US time.
