WASHINGTON -- A clear takeaway from the latest 2-plus-2 talks of the Japanese and U.S. foreign and defense ministers was the shift toward reinforcing the defense of the Nansei Islands.
At the meeting in Washington on Wednesday, the United States announced the establishment of a marine littoral regiment (MLR) in Okinawa Prefecture that can respond promptly to an contingency on Japan's remote islands. This reflects the increasingly realistic concerns that a contingency affecting Taiwan could occur.
