WASHINGTON – The Pentagon is planning to deploy thousands of US Marines andother military forces to East Asia in a bid to form a front against China,a new report has revealed.

According to the new plan, the administration of US President Donald Trumpwould authorize deploying Marine Expeditionary Units, or MEUs, to theregion, the Wall Street Journal reported earlier in the week.

Comprising about 2,200 Marines complete with their own aircraft, tanks andother heavy weaponry, the MEUs will be deployed in rotating seven-monthtours.

Some of the troops are said to be deployed from bases in the Middle East,where the US has been engaged in the so-called wars on terror for years incountries like Iraq and Afghanistan.

The US also has around 50,000 service members in Japan, almost 30,000 inSouth Korea, and 7,000 more in the Pacific territory of Guam.

The Pentagon is also expected to increase the number of its Marinesdeployed in Darwin, Australia, where there are already some 1,250 Americantroops deployed on rotating six-month tours.

According to the report, the pending deployments fall in line withAmerica’s new National Defense Strategy published earlier by the Trumpadministration which revolves around pushing against Russia and China’sgrowing influence in the region.

“I believe the [National Defense Strategy] and other guidance requires usto adopt a more global posture and this will shape our future navalpresence, especially in the Indo-Pacific region,” said General RobertNeller, the commanding officer of the US Marine Corps.link>PressTV-US Navy commander says China a disruptive forcelink>Head of the US military’s Pacific command Admiral Harry Harris has saidChina is a disruptive power in the Indo-Pacific regionlink>

“We have to be present and engaged to compete,” he added. The new defensestrategy “will shape our future naval presence, especially in theIndo-Pacific region.”

In order to counter China’s rise, the US has also established strong tradeand military ties with India.

India has begun holding trilateral naval exercises with the US and Japanthat military experts say could eventually include Australia as well.

China is in a territorial dispute with India and with some of its otherneighbors in the East and South China Sea. While strengthening itsmilitary, the country has been seeking a peaceful rise to a global powerstatus.

In January, Admiral Harry Harris, the head of the US military’s PacificCommand, said China was a “disruptive” power in the Indo-Pacific region andneeded to be confronted.