By Cheryl Pellerin
American Forces Press Service
TOKYO, April 6, 2014 – For reasons a senior defense official
said included North Korean provocations, treaty commitments to Japan and U.S.
national security interests, Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel said today that the
United States will send Japan two more Aegis-equipped ballistic-missile defense
ships by 2017.
The ships are designed to intercept ballistic missiles
post-boost phase and before reentry. When delivered, Japan will have a total of
seven such ships.
Hagel made the announcement this morning during a joint
press conference with Japanese Defense Minister Itsunori Onodera after the two
leaders met earlier to discuss a range of alliance issues, including the threat
posed by North Korea.
“In response to Pyongyang¹s pattern of provocative and
destabilizing actions, including recent missile launches in violation of U.N.
Security Council resolutions, I can announce today that the United States is
planning to forward-deploy two additional Aegis ballistic missile defense ships
to Japan by 2017,” Hagel said.
The secretary said he visited one of the U.S. ballistic
missile defense ships when he was in Japan on October 3, 2013, for the “2 plus
2” meeting of U.S. and Japanese secretaries of state and defense.
“This deployment follows our October announcement to
establish a second missile-defense radar site in Kyoto Prefecture and my
decision last year to increase ground-based interceptors in Alaska,” Hagel
said, adding that these steps will enhance the United States’ ability to defend
Japan and its own homeland from North Korea’s ballistic missile threat.
Significantly bolstering the U.S. naval presence also
strengthens the U.S.-Japan alliance and increases deterrence against North
Korean aggression, the secretary said.
In late March, on the sidelines of the Nuclear Security
Summit in The Hague, President Barack Obama, Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe
and South Korean President Park Geun-hye sat down for the first time to discuss
the shared threat they face from North Korea. They agreed that they would
consider specific steps they could take to deepen diplomatic and military
coordination to deter the threat, including joint exercises and on missile
defense.
Building off that meeting, Hagel said today that he and
Onodera had “discussed ways to help deepen trilateral defense cooperation,”
including through the upcoming Defense Trilateral Talks to be held in
Washington this month.
Hagel and Onodera also discussed plans for consolidation on
Okinawa, and the secretary thanked the minister for Japan’s efforts in securing
approval in December for the Futenma replacement facility¹s landfill permit.
“We look forward to the facility¹s construction beginning
soon,” Hagel said. “I reaffirmed the U.S. commitment to continue exploring ways
to reduce the economic impact of our facilities on Okinawa and our desire to be
a good neighbor.”
The secretary said these issues will be part of revising the
guidelines for U.S.-Japan defense cooperation as the United States adjusts its
posture in the Asia-Pacific region and Japan expands its roles and
relationships around the world.
“The United States welcomes Japan’s efforts to play a more
proactive role in contributing to global and regional peace and stability,”
Hagel said, “including reexamining the interpretation of its Constitution
relating to the rights of collective self-defense.”
It is Japan’s responsibility and sovereign right to review
its self-defense guidelines in the interests of what is best for the Japanese
people, the secretary added.
“We encourage and support that effort and believe the
decisions made by the Japanese government on behalf of the Japanese people will
continue to enhance and strengthen this important alliance between our two
countries,” he said.
During their meeting, Hagel and Onodera also discussed key
challenges in the East China Sea.
“I restated the principles that govern longstanding U.S.
policy on the Senkaku Islands and other islands,” the secretary said, “and we
affirmed that since [the Senkaku Islands] are under Japan’s administrative
control, they fall under Article 5 of our Mutual Security Treaty.”
According to Article 5, “each party recognizes that an armed
attack against either party in the territories under the administration of
Japan would be dangerous to its own peace and safety and declares that it would
act to meet the common danger in accordance with its constitutional provisions
and processes.”
It continues, “Any such armed attack and all measures taken
as a result thereof shall be immediately reported to the Security Council of
the United Nations in accordance with the provisions of Article 51 of the
Charter. Such measures shall be terminated when the Security Council has taken
the measures necessary to restore and maintain international peace and
security.”
“We take seriously America's treaty commitments and we
strongly oppose any unilateral coercive action that seeks to undermine Japan¹s
administrative control,” Hagel said. “A peaceful resolution of territorial
disputes is in the interest of all nations of the region.”
America has no stronger ally or better friend in this region
than Japan, he added.
Going forward, the secretary said, there’s “no doubt that,
as the United States continues to rebalance toward the Asia-Pacific, the
enduring friendship and alliance between our two nations will only grow
stronger.”
Tomorrow, Hagel said, he continues his Asia-Pacific trip
with a stop in China at the invitation of Chinese Defense Minister Chang
Wanquan.
“I look forward to spending time in China and having direct
conversations with the leaders in China about many issues,” the secretary
added. “Certainly many … of those issues will revolve around the Asia-Pacific
issues, the East China Sea, the South China Sea, [China’s] neighbors [and] the
continued dangerous and provocative actions of the North Koreans.”
Great powers have great responsibilities and China is a
great power, Hagel said.
“With this power comes new and wider responsibilities as to
how you use that power, how you employ that military power,” he added. “And I
want to talk with the Chinese about all of that, particularly transparency -- a
key dimension of relationships. Transparency, intentions, what governments are
doing, why. The more transparent and open governments can be with each other,
the better for everyone. That avoids miscalculation, misinterpretation,
misunderstanding, and hopefully that lowers the risk of conflict.”
Hagel said he’d also like to speak with the Chinese about
respect for one’s neighbors. Coercion and intimidation are deadly and lead only
to conflict, he added.
“All nations, all people, deserve respect no matter how
large or how small. I think we're seeing clear evidence of a lack of respect,
along with intimidation and coercion in Europe today in what the Russians have
done in Ukraine,” the secretary said.
“We must be very careful and … very clear, [to] all nations
of the world, that in the 21st century this will not stand,” he added. “You
cannot go around the world and 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.
Nations must be clear on this and speak plainly. It takes courage from
leaders.”
Hagel said he’d like to speak with the Chinese about common
interests and building relationships, especially military-to-military
relationships, and opportunities for engagement with neighbors like Japan and
South Korea.
“I look forward to an honest dialogue,” he added. “I look
forward to listening carefully to the Chinese, and only then do we help move
forward, not just with opportunities but with possibilities and the processes
to fulfill those prospects.”
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