WORLD_ Allies seek to check Chinese navy

NIKKEI.COM
April 28, 2015 6:13 am JST

New Japan-US defense playbook

Allies seek to check Chinese navy

YUKIO TAJIMA, Nikkei staff writer


Japanese Defense Minister Gen Nakatani, left, and U.S. counterpart Ashton Carter speak to reporters about the new cooperation guidelines Monday.

NEW YORK -- Making China think twice about projecting sea power forms an unstated aim of the first overhaul of Japan-U.S. defense cooperation in 18 years.

The Chinese military has become more active on and above the East China Sea, home to the Senkaku Islands, which China claims as its own and calls the Diaoyu. Instances of Japan scrambling jets to head off Chinese planes approaching its airspace tripled in the past three years.

The new guidelines for defense cooperation cover attacks on outlying islands. In such situations, the U.S. military is to support Japanese Self-Defense Forces in preventing landings and retaking islands.

Foreign affairs and defense chiefs from both allies reaffirmed in a statement Monday that the Senkakus are covered by America's obligation to defend Japan under Article 5 of their security treaty. U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry drove home this point in a news conference.

In conjunction with the new guidelines, the criteria for determining when the SDF can provide logistical support for U.S. military operations are to be redefined to include situations far from Japan as long as they have a serious impact on its peace and security. Japan also would be able to supply ammunition in such cases. This more outgoing role is meant to keep America involved in defending Japan.

In return, the SDF is to shoulder more responsibilities within the alliance, even during peacetime. One possible area of cooperation is the South China Sea, where China is creating islands out of contested reefs, reportedly with a view to building fortifications. The U.S. is said to be seeking SDF support in surveillance and information gathering on such activity.

The new guidelines list examples of where the SDF could participate in collective self-defense operations -- situations in which Japan is not directly under attack. Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's cabinet adopted a new constitutional interpretation that lets Japan exercise this right. Scenarios include minesweeping in the Strait of Hormuz, through which Japan's supply of Middle Eastern petroleum flows, and repelling attacks against U.S. warships ferrying Japanese nationals out of harm's way.

Broadening the SDF's role poses challenges beyond enacting new laws. Japanese forces have been massed in and around the homeland, ready to counter threats from China and Russia. Extending their range to the South China Sea and beyond would spread their defensive capabilities thin.

Japan's latest multiyear defense policy blueprint, which serves as a basis for arms procurement, dates to 2013, before the new guidelines. It "needs to be revised," a Defense Ministry official said. But daunting fiscal constraints stand in the way of any aggressive defense buildup.

***


Chân thành cám ơn Quý Anh Chị ghé thăm "conbenho Nguyễn Hoài Trang Blog".
Xin được lắng nghe ý kiến chia sẻ của Quý Anh Chị trực tiếp tại Diễn Đàn Paltalk: 1Latdo Tapdoan Vietgian CSVN Phanquoc Bannuoc . 
Kính chúc Sức Khỏe Quý Anh Chị . 



conbenho
Tiểu Muội quantu
Nguyễn Hoài Trang
05052015
___________
Cộng sản Việt Nam là TỘI ÁC
Bao che, dung dưỡng TỘI ÁC là ĐỒNG LÕA với TỘI ÁC