Free Republic

TOKYO — Yukio Edano, chief of the Constitution Research Committee of the opposition Democratic Party of Japan, proposed Sunday to deploy Self-Defense Forces troops to the disputed Senkaku Islands in the East China Sea to avoid invasion by other countries. "The Senkaku Islands are effectively controlled by Japan. I believe the SDF should be stationed there so other countries will not be able to invade them," he told a TV news show. The Senkakus, about 400 kilometers west of Okinawa Prefecture's capital Naha, are controlled by Japan and also claimed by China and Taiwan.