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Panetta in a plea for restraint on all sides
Source: Agencies |
September 18, 2012, Tuesday
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US Defense Secretary Leon Panetta expressed concern about mounting tensions between China and Japan over the Diaoyu Islands as he urged "calm and restraint on all sides" yesterday
"It is in everybody's interest for Japan and China to maintain good relations and to find a way to avoid further escalation," Panetta told a news conference in Tokyo after meetings with the Japanese foreign and defense ministers.
Japanese Foreign Minister Koichiro Gemba told reporters earlier that Japan and the US agreed the islands were covered by a US-Japan security treaty.
Panetta said that while his government stood by its obligations under the treaty with Japan, it did not take any side over who had sovereignty over the islands.
"...the United States, as a matter of policy, does not take a position with regard to competing sovereignty claims. Having said that, we expect that these issues will be resolved peacefully and although we understand the differences here with regard to jurisdiction, it is extremely important that diplomatic means on both sides be used to try to constructively resolve these issues," he said.
The US defense secretary arrived in China yesterday for a three-day visit, during which he will meet Chinese Defense Minister Liang Guanglie and Vice President Xi Jinping. He will also visit Qingdao, home of the Chinese navy's North Sea Fleet.
Panetta's visit is aimed at developing a closer military relationship with China while also working to deepen US defense ties with its longtime treaty allies as part of a shift in US strategic focus to the Asia-Pacific region.
As part of that effort, Panetta and Japanese Defense Minister Satoshi Morimoto announced an agreement to locate a second missile defense radar system on Japanese territory to protect against a North Korean missile threat.
"(The radar) will enhance the alliance's ability to defend Japan, our forward deployed forces and the US homeland from a ballistic missile threat posed by North Korea," Panetta said.
He said he would be talking to Chinese leaders about the system to assure them it was about protecting the US and the region from North Korea's missile threat.
"It is in everybody's interest for Japan and China to maintain good relations and to find a way to avoid further escalation," Panetta told a news conference in Tokyo after meetings with the Japanese foreign and defense ministers.
Japanese Foreign Minister Koichiro Gemba told reporters earlier that Japan and the US agreed the islands were covered by a US-Japan security treaty.
Panetta said that while his government stood by its obligations under the treaty with Japan, it did not take any side over who had sovereignty over the islands.
"...the United States, as a matter of policy, does not take a position with regard to competing sovereignty claims. Having said that, we expect that these issues will be resolved peacefully and although we understand the differences here with regard to jurisdiction, it is extremely important that diplomatic means on both sides be used to try to constructively resolve these issues," he said.
The US defense secretary arrived in China yesterday for a three-day visit, during which he will meet Chinese Defense Minister Liang Guanglie and Vice President Xi Jinping. He will also visit Qingdao, home of the Chinese navy's North Sea Fleet.
Panetta's visit is aimed at developing a closer military relationship with China while also working to deepen US defense ties with its longtime treaty allies as part of a shift in US strategic focus to the Asia-Pacific region.
As part of that effort, Panetta and Japanese Defense Minister Satoshi Morimoto announced an agreement to locate a second missile defense radar system on Japanese territory to protect against a North Korean missile threat.
"(The radar) will enhance the alliance's ability to defend Japan, our forward deployed forces and the US homeland from a ballistic missile threat posed by North Korea," Panetta said.
He said he would be talking to Chinese leaders about the system to assure them it was about protecting the US and the region from North Korea's missile threat.
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