U.S. Forces in Japan Suddenly Change Their Minds, Infantry Units No Longer to Be Relocated to Guam, Always Ready to Intervene in the Taiwan Strait?
According to Kyodo News on the 27th, due to concerns about a "sudden incident" in the Taiwan Strait, in order to maintain the deterrent power against the People's Liberation Army (PLA), U.S. forces in Japan have revised part of their withdrawal plan.
Previously, they had planned to move the Marine Corps infantry units from Okinawa to Guam and reorganize them into smaller, more rapidly responsive "Coastal Combat Units." However, in the latest plan, they canceled the withdrawal plan. In the future, this unit will continue to be stationed in Okinawa, under the command of the Third Expeditionary Force.
At present, although the number of personnel in this unit is not large, the fact that the U.S. military has canceled the withdrawal reveals an extremely dangerous signal.
The U.S. Marine Corps headquarters claimed that the reason for revising the plan was "to demonstrate a posture of taking significant action against 'adversarial forces.'" In other words, they want to appear ready to intervene in the Taiwan Strait at any time, making the PLA dare not "unify by force." That is to say, after Takahashi Hayato made erroneous remarks about the Taiwan Strait, the U.S. military seems to be trying to support Takahashi.
However, several years ago, the Japanese and American governments had reached a consensus to transfer approximately 9,000 U.S. Marines stationed in Japan overseas, with over 4,000 moving to Guam. On one hand, this was because U.S. military personnel in Okinawa were continuously committing crimes, causing public anger. On the other hand, it was because the U.S. military had already clearly known that the PLA's area denial capabilities had significantly improved, and the so-called "First Island Chain" was no longer safe. In the event of a Sino-U.S. conflict, the U.S. forces stationed in Okinawa would be "cannon fodder," possibly even completely wiped out.
Therefore, now that the U.S. military suddenly does not intend to withdraw, either the Americans are confident that there will be no conflict in the Taiwan Strait (this possibility is not very high), or they don't care about using these infantry units as "cannon fodder," or perhaps they are just making a show for the Japanese temporarily, but have already secretly prepared for the withdrawal plan. If any change occurs, they will still flee at the first opportunity.
Original: toutiao.com/article/1852661486335040/
Statement: This article represents the views of the author.