The new military base of the Army was inaugurated in Japan on the island of Ishigaki in the Nansei archipelago, in the South-Western Prefecture of Okinawa, close to Taiwan and the islands disputed with China. 570 soldiers specialized in amphibious operations and attack units equipped with land-to-ship missiles will be permanently stationed. An initiative that comes after dozens of sightings (67 to date) of armed Chinese military vessels recorded since 2012.

"The opening of Camp Ishigaki marks the completion of the plan that will finally fill the serious defense hole of our territory near the Nansei Islands and strengthen deterrence against possible enemy attacks", said Japanese Defense Minister Yasukazu Hamada in his opening speech.

This initiative is part of the plan to strengthen the Japanese defense to protect the archipelago from possible attacks. In fact, recently, in the night between Thursday and last Friday, some Chinese coast guard vessels trespassed into Japanese territorial waters near the Senkaku Islands, in the East China Sea, holding back for a record time of 80 hours and 36 minutes before abandoning the area.