Japan's Defense Ministry has drawn up a plan to repel possible invasions against a group of southern islands that include disputed isles also claimed by China, Kyodo news agency said on Saturday. The report comes at a time when Japan-China relations have been chilled by a number of disputes, including a spat over an intrusion of a Chinese nuclear-powered submarine into Japanese waters in November. The plan, drawn up in November, calls for steps such as deploying navy destroyers, submarines and fighter planes as well as mobilizing 55,000 army troops and rangers in the event of a foreign invasion on such southern islands, Kyodo said. The plan likely reflects wariness toward China, Kyodo added. "China intruded into Japanese waters in November of last year and is expanding its area of activities. There is a need to keep eyes on their moves," Kyodo quoted a senior Defense Ministry official as saying. Defense Ministry officials were not immediately available to comment on Kyodo's report. The defense plan concerns a group of islands off Japan's southernmost main island of Kyushu that include Okinawa as well as disputed islands known as the Senkakus in Japan and the Diaoyus in China, Kyodo said. A long-running dispute over those islands took a new turn last year when China built a natural gas production plant 5 km (3 miles) from an area that Japan considers to be its exclusive economic zone. Japan is concerned the Chinese project might draw gas from its exclusive economic zone, which gives a country rights over resources including fishing and mineral extraction from the sea bed. Japan considers waters east of the midway point between its coastline including the disputed islands, and that of China to be its exclusive economic zone. China does not recognize the midway line.
