The comment by Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s right-hand man came after China singled out Japan for criticism when 11 Asian countries stressed the importance of freedom of overflight at a summit in Tokyo, in a move seen as targeting Beijing.
‘We think China should see the reality that many countries in the international community share concerns about the Air Defence Identification Zone and seriously accept it,’ Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga told a regular briefing.
A joint statement by Japan and leaders of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), ‘agreed to enhance cooperation in ensuring freedom of overflight and civil aviation safety’.
While the statement did not name China, it was seen as a clear rebuke for Beijing, which has sovereignty disputes with Japan and with four members of the economic bloc, and which has been repeatedly accused of intimidation and coercion.
US boosts security aid to Vietnam
The United States will boost maritime security assistance to China’s smaller neighbours amid rising tensions over disputed territories in the South China Sea, US Secretary of State John Kerry announced today during a visit to Vietnam, where he also pressed the communist government on human rights and democratic and economic reforms.
The US will provide an additional $32.5 million to help Southeast Asian nations protect their territorial waters and secure navigational freedom, Kerry said. Vietnam alone will receive up to US $18 million, including five fast patrol-boats that will be given to the Vietnamese Coast Guard, he said.
With the new contribution, US maritime security assistance to the region will exceed $156 million over the next two years, the State Department said.
Kerry’s visit to Vietnam, to be followed by a stop in the Philippines on Tuesday, comes as tensions over conflicting claims to territory in the South China Sea have risen dramatically and many of China’s neighbours are seeking assurances from Washington that it will remain a guarantor of maritime security in the Asia-Pacific region. Both Vietnam and the Philippines are involved in disputes with China. China’s growing assertiveness in the region, including the establishment of a new air defence zone over parts of the East China Sea over strenuous US objections, has alarmed many. Beijing regards the entire South China Sea and island groups within it as its own and interprets international law as giving it the right to police foreign naval activity there.
‘We think China should see the reality that many countries in the international community share concerns about the Air Defence Identification Zone and seriously accept it,’ Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga told a regular briefing.
A joint statement by Japan and leaders of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), ‘agreed to enhance cooperation in ensuring freedom of overflight and civil aviation safety’.
While the statement did not name China, it was seen as a clear rebuke for Beijing, which has sovereignty disputes with Japan and with four members of the economic bloc, and which has been repeatedly accused of intimidation and coercion.
US boosts security aid to Vietnam
The United States will boost maritime security assistance to China’s smaller neighbours amid rising tensions over disputed territories in the South China Sea, US Secretary of State John Kerry announced today during a visit to Vietnam, where he also pressed the communist government on human rights and democratic and economic reforms.
The US will provide an additional $32.5 million to help Southeast Asian nations protect their territorial waters and secure navigational freedom, Kerry said. Vietnam alone will receive up to US $18 million, including five fast patrol-boats that will be given to the Vietnamese Coast Guard, he said.
With the new contribution, US maritime security assistance to the region will exceed $156 million over the next two years, the State Department said.
Kerry’s visit to Vietnam, to be followed by a stop in the Philippines on Tuesday, comes as tensions over conflicting claims to territory in the South China Sea have risen dramatically and many of China’s neighbours are seeking assurances from Washington that it will remain a guarantor of maritime security in the Asia-Pacific region. Both Vietnam and the Philippines are involved in disputes with China. China’s growing assertiveness in the region, including the establishment of a new air defence zone over parts of the East China Sea over strenuous US objections, has alarmed many. Beijing regards the entire South China Sea and island groups within it as its own and interprets international law as giving it the right to police foreign naval activity there.