In the face of China’s growing presence in the South China Sea, the United States Marine Corps is moving ahead with plans to eventually place nearly 15% of the service’s personnel in Hawaii and beyond, reports Duowei News, a US-based Chinese political news outlet.
Citing a report from South Korea’s JoongAng Ilbo, it is noted that the 190,000-strong US Marines Corp specializes in expeditionary warfare and is typically mobilized for regional conflicts or the rapid delivery of combined-arms task forces with the US Navy.
Experts believe the aim of of relocating nearly 30,000 marines is to reduce America’s reaction time in the Asia-Pacific and form a key part of US president Obama’s “Asia rebalancing” strategy.
Source: US to relocate 30,000 marines to counter China in S. China Sea: report｜WCT
