TOKYO: US Defence Secretary Chuck Hagel moved yesterday to reassure Japan of America’s commitment to its security, as Russia’s annexation of Crimea raises eyebrows in a region facing its own territorial disputes with an increasingly assertive China.
The United States and its allies have made clear they have no military plans to defend Ukraine, which is not a Nato member, instead moving to isolate Russia diplomatically and impose limited sanctions.
Critics say such moves are too weak to return Crimea to Ukrainian control and do little to deter further aggression.
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 crisis in Ukraine. “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,” he said.
But Hagel rejected any suggestion of weakness as he renewed US commitments to Japan, which is locked in a dispute with China over islands in the East China Sea.
Washington takes no position on the sovereignty of the islands, called the Senkaku by Japan and the Diaoyu by China, but recognises that Japan administers them and says they fall under the US-Japan Security Treaty, which obligates America to come to Japan’s defence.
Addressing US and Japanese forces at Yokota Air Base, Hagel said 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.
Daniel Russel, President Barack Obama’s diplomatic point man for East Asia, said on Thursday the prospect of economic retaliation should discourage Beijing from using force to pursue territorial claims in Asia, in the way Russia has in Crimea.
Reuters
