Japan defense minister supports US in South China Sea
HONOLULU — Japanese Defense Minister Gen Nakatani is expressing his support for the US Navy’s sailing of a warship close to one of China’s artificial islands in the South China Sea.
Nakatani met Pacific Command commander Adm. Harry Harris in Hawaii on Tuesday.
Nakatani told reporters he told Harris that the US military was at the forefront of the international community’s efforts to protect open, free and peaceful oceans in the South China Sea.
He told reporters he expressed Japan’s support for US actions to Harris.
The US Navy sailed a guided missile destroyer inside what China claims is a 12-mile territorial limit around Subi Reef in the Spratly Islands last month.
Article continues after this advertisementThe move was a challenge to what the US considers Beijing’s “excessive claim” of sovereignty in those waters.
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