The Defense Agency would deploy 7,200 ground troops to protect Japan's southernmost islands from invading Chinese forces in the event of a conflict between China and Taiwan, according to confidential documents obtained by Kyodo News.
It is the first time internal agency documents have been found to assume that China might attack Japanese territory.
The agency's Ground Staff Office believes China might invade the remote islands in Okinawa Prefecture to block joint support operations for Taiwan by Japan and the United States, according to the documents obtained Thursday.