About 1,700 National Guard troops are operating in the greater Los Angeles area to respond to the protests in the second-largest city in the country, U.S. Northern Command said on Monday.
As of Monday, there are approximately 1,700 soldiers from the 79th Infantry Brigade Combat Team, a California National Guard unit in a Title 10 status, in the greater Los Angeles Area, according to a statement released by U.S. Northern Command.
U.S. Northern Command has activated the Marine infantry battalion that was placed in an alert status over the weekend, the statement said.
About 700 U.S. Marines will join the National Guard troops who were activated by U.S. President Donald Trump over the weekend to protect "federal personnel and federal property in the greater Los Angeles area," according to the statement.
Trump took extraordinary action on Saturday by calling up 2,000 National Guard troops to quell immigration protests in the Los Angeles region, making rare use of federal powers and bypassing the authority of California's Governor Gavin Newsom.
About 300 National Guard troops arrived early Sunday morning in downtown Los Angeles. More than 1,000 protesters clashed and faced off with National Guard troops in the city on Sunday during the demonstrations against immigration raids that swept across California over the weekend.
1,700 National Guard troops operating in greater Los Angeles area
1,700 National Guard troops operating in greater Los Angeles area
1,700 National Guard troops operating in greater Los Angeles area
The series of erroneous words and actions by Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi not only seriously deviate from the spirit of pacifist Constitution of the country but also further exacerbate regional tensions, said Tomoko Tamura, a member of the House of Representatives.
In an exclusive interview with China Central Television (CCTV), Tamura criticized Takaichi for straining Japan-China relations by making erroneous remarks on Taiwan, calling on her to improve bilateral relations.
Tamura pointed out that the political consensus reached during the normalization of diplomatic relations between the two countries remains of great significance, and Japan should respect and abide by it as the basis for repairing and rebuilding friendly relations with China.
"The erroneous remarks by Sanae Takaichi this time have led to the deterioration of China-Japan relations. This is absolutely unacceptable and must be retracted. Regarding the relations between two sides, the consensus reached during the normalization of diplomatic relations in 1972 is of utmost importance. At that time, the Chinese government asserted that Taiwan is part of China and the Japanese government fully understood and respected this stance. Now we should reaffirm this consensus, as well as the crucial agreements reached by both countries after 1972. Japan should explicitly acknowledge these significant agreements to rebuild friendly relations with China," she said.
Tamura also pointed out that in recent years, Japan has attempted to reshape its security policy, boosting defense spending, easing arms-export restrictions, pursuing offensive weapons development, and clearly deviating from the fundamental principle of "exclusively defense-oriented" policy.
"Japan's possession of long-range missiles clearly exceeded the scope of 'exclusively defense-oriented' policies. Japan is accelerating its military expansion. From the perspective of the Japanese constitution, this is absolutely not allowed. We are deeply concerned about the current Takaichi administration's disregard for the Japanese constitution. We clearly demand that Japan should adhere to the position of resolving issues through diplomatic efforts," she said.
Japanese official criticizes Takaichi's erroneous remarks
