Japan plans to deploy hundreds of troops near disputed islands

Japan's deputy defence minister met with the mayor of a southern island on Thursday to seek his support for the planned deployment of hundreds of troops in the region including nearby disputed East China Sea islands.

Vice Minister of Defence Kenji Wakamiya met in Ishigaki with Mayor Yoshitaka Nakayama to explain a plan to deploy about 500 ground troops on the island beginning in 2019, ministry officials said. The troops would be for emergency response in case of infiltration on nearby islands or for missile defence.

Ishigaki has jurisdiction over the Japanese-controlled Senkaku islands, which China also claims and calls the Diaoyu islands.

Japan has stepped up its defence readiness, especially on islands in the country's southwestern region, amid China's military buildup and its frequent patrols near the disputed islands. China and North Korea's missile and nuclear weapons ambitions top Japan's security concerns.

Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's hawkish government enacted new security laws in September despite widespread criticism that they violate Japan's war-renouncing constitution.

Japan is already constructing a base on the nearby island of Yonaguni to deploy 150 coastal monitoring troops, and plans to deploy hundreds more each on Miyako and Amamioshima islands by 2018.