Hagel: US committed to protecting Japan
Iran Press TV
Sat Apr 5, 2014 11:52AM GMT
US Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel says the United States is strongly committed to protecting Japan's security amid territorial disputes with neighbors.
Addressing US and Japanese forces at Yokota Air Base, Hagel said Saturday that one of the goals of his trip to the region was to assure allies of America's commitment to 'our treaty obligations.'
'We're serious about that,' he said.
Observers say the announcement is a reaction to Russia's annexation of Ukraine's Crimean region last month. The United States and its European allies have made clear they have no military plans to defend Ukraine, which is not a NATO member. But they have vowed to try to isolate Russia diplomatically and impose limited sanctions.
Critics say such moves are too weak to return Crimea to Ukrainian control. Last month, people in Crimea voted in a referendum to break away from Ukraine and rejoin Russia after 60 years.
Hagel defended the US strategy to punish Russia and told reporters ahead of two days of talks with Japanese leaders that it was natural that 'allies are going to look at each other to be assured,' given the political crisis in Ukraine which led to the ouster of former president Viktor Yanukovych.
The Associated Press reported that Hagel plans to meet with a number of top leaders in Japan, including Prime Minister Shinzo Abe.
China, Japan and other regional nations have recently been locked in bitter territorial disputes, including over disputed islands in the East China Sea.
'It's a pretty predictable, I think, reaction not just of nations of this area, of this region, but all over the world. It has to concern nations,' Hagel said.
ARA/ARA
|
NEWSLETTER
|
| Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list |
|
|
|
