The ministry's affiliated Association for East Asian Relations Secretary-General Peter Tsai said that since Yonaguni Island is a part of Japan's territory, other countries have no right to interfere with the decision. The move is not directed against Taiwan because Taiwan and Japan have amicable relations all the time, said Tsai.

Yonaguni Island is 110 km from Taiwan's eastern county of Hualien. With 1600 inhabitants, the Japanese island is also 170 km away from the Diaoyutai Islands, of which the sovereignty is claimed by Taiwan, Japan, and China.

The plan of encampment is listed in the "National Defense Program Guidelines" set to be published by the end of year, said Japan's defense ministry.

Tsai also denied speculation that the encampment aimed to assert sovereignty over the Diaoyutai Islands, saying the islands are far from each other.

The Fisheries Agency under the Cabinet-level Council of Agriculture also said in a statement yesterday that the troop stationing is not connected to fishing protection because few fishing disputes happened near the Yonaguni Island, one of the important fishing grounds for Taiwanese fishermen, following a temporary enforcement line drawn in 2004.

In recent years, fishing disputes between Taiwan and Japan have still occurred around the Diaoyutai Islands over issues of unresolved sovereignty.