China slams American missile defence radar in Japan

BEIJING — The United States is damaging stability in the Asia-Pacific region by positioning a missile defence radar in Japan, said China yesterday.

Tokyo, an ally of Washington, has voiced growing anxiety over Beijing’s more assertive posture in the East China Sea, where the neighbours are locked in a dispute over control of a group of uninhabited islets.

North Korea has carried out a series of missile tests this year, including two medium-range missiles capable of hitting Japan. Pyongyang has also threatened another nuclear test.

Japan’s Defence Ministry has said an X-Band radar system was delivered on Tuesday to the US military’s communication facility in Kyoto in the western part of the country. It is scheduled to be fully operational by the end of the year.

“Neighbouring countries pushing forward the deployment of anti-missile systems in the Asia-Pacific and seeking unilateral security is not beneficial to strategic stability and mutual trust in the region,” Ms Hua Chunying, a Chinese Foreign Ministry spokeswoman, told a regular briefing. “It is not beneficial to peace and stability in north-east Asia.”

Countries should not use excuses to harm the security interests of other countries, Ms Hua added, describing the situation as deeply worrying.

China has racheted up military spending in recent years, putting in place new submarines, surface ships and anti-ship ballistic missiles, which the US sees as a counter to its military presence in the region.

US Defence Secretary Chuck Hagel has said two Navy destroyers equipped with missile defence systems would be deployed to Japan by 2017 in response to provocations from North Korea.

The two destroyers will have completed a so-called midlife modernisation before being rebased in Japan and will be equipped with the latest Aegis Baseline 9 combat system, which includes state-of-the-art air defence, ballistic missile defence, surface warfare and undersea warfare capabilities, said navy officials.

“As part of their Aegis combat systems, each ship is outfitted with the Mark-41 Vertical Launch System for multiple types of guided missiles and is capable of defensive and offensive operations against aircraft, cruise missiles, ballistic missiles, surface ships, submarines and shore targets, the navy said.

The announced moves comes as the US Navy continues a strategy to focus naval capabilities on the Asia-Pacific region, where vital sea lanes, potential gas and oil deposits and a growing Chinese navy feature prominently.

Beijing and Tokyo are in dispute over ownership of islands in the East China Sea known as the Senkaku in Japan and Diaoyu in China. Beijing is also in dispute with Vietnam, the Philippines, Malaysia and Brunei over the Spratly Islands in the South China Sea. AGENCIES


Sumber - TODAYonline