Territorial disputes are nothing new in the Northeast Asian region, but sensitivity about those disputes has arguably never been higher. It is therefore hardly a coincidence that the region's major powers are all giving priority to amphibious capa-bilities within their military modernisation programmes in order to develop the means to capture or recapture island territories in the event of conflict. China, Japan, Russia and South Korea all claim disputed islands in Northeast Asian waters and they are all investing heavily in new amphibious systems. However, the island disputes, while of primary concern to some, are only secondary contingencies for others.
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