US sending 2 warships to Japan to counter N Korea
Monday, 7 April 2014
TOKYO, Apr 6 (agencies) American Defence Secretary Chuck Hagel has said the US will send two ballistic missile defence destroyers to Japan.
The ships will join five US warships already stationed in Japan by 2017.
Mr Hagel made the announcement during a visit to Tokyo as part of efforts to counter recent missile tests by North Korea.
He also addressed territorial disputes between China and its neighbours, saying Chinese authorities should have "respect for their neighbours".
In February Mr Hagel had already announced the expansion of its missile defence capabilities in Asia, with an additional radar planned in Japan that could track any missile launched from North Korea.
In his comments on China's territorial disputes with other East Asian nations, he drew a parallel with Russia's actions in Ukraine's region of Crimea, which has been annexed by Russia.
"You cannot... redefine boundaries and violate territorial integrity and sovereignty of nations by force, coercion and intimidation, whether it's in small islands in the Pacific or large nations in Europe," he said.
Relations between China and Japan are currently under strain over a territorial row involving islands in the East China Sea known as the Senkaku islands in Japan and the Diaoyu islands in China.
US Defence Secretary Chuck Hagel delivered a two-pronged warning to Asia Pacific nations Sunday, announcing that the U.S. will send two additional ballistic missile destroyers to Japan to counter the North Korean threat, and saying China must better respect its neighbors.
In unusually forceful remarks about China, Hagel drew a direct line between Russia's takeover of Ukraine's Crimea region and the ongoing territorial disputes between China, Japan and others over remote islands in the East China Sea.
Hagel, who will travel to China later this week, called the Asian nation a "great power," and added, "with this power comes new and wider responsibilities as to how you use that power, how you employ that military power."