The United States plans to send two more missile defence warships to Japan to counter the threat posed by North Korea's "provocative" actions, Pentagon chief Chuck Hagel said Sunday.
Japan dispatched fighter jets more often over the past 12 months than at any time since the Cold War ended, according to government figures, with the sorties mostly aimed at chasing away Chinese and Russian aircraft.
Key ministers from Japan and Australia will meet Wednesday to beef up their defence relations, including a possible future submarine deal, as a rising China stirs tension in the Asia-Pacific region.
Two Chinese coastguard ships sailed into disputed waters off Japan-administered islands in the East China Sea Saturday, officials said, as the United States warned Beijing over increasing territorial assertiveness.
The defense chiefs of Japan, South Korea and the United States agreed on Saturday to jointly counter missile threats from North Korea, stressing the importance of sharing information within the three-party framework.
China should work more closely with Russia on security to counter Japan, a state-run Chinese newspaper said Thursday after Moscow and Beijing signed a huge natural gas deal.
The Japanese government on Monday expressed its desire to build stronger ties with India, with talks reportedly under way to arrange a visit to Japan by Indian Prime Minister-elect Narendra Modi in his first official foreign tour following his election win.
A U.S. Global Hawk surveillance drone arrived Saturday morning at the Misawa Air Base in northeastern Japan in the first deployment of such an aircraft in the country.
Japan and Britain are to jointly develop missile technology for fighter jets, while Tokyo may also start exporting Japanese-made parts for US surface-to-air missiles, a report said Thursday.
"The Northern Territories are an inherent part of Japan's territory, and we cannot accept the move," a senior ministry official also said, a day after Russia announced its military began military exercises on the Russia-held, Japan-claimed islands.
The Japanese government expressed concern over the launch by North Korea of two ballistic missiles that fell into the Sea of Japan, but was not planning to suspend bilateral intergovernmental talks because of that, Japan's Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga said on Wednesday.
TOKYO, Nov 10, 2014 (AFP) - A 30-minute summit with Chinese President Xi Jinping was a "first step" on the road to improving relations between Asia's two largest economies after years of hostility, Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said Monday.
TOKYO, Jan 31, 2015 (AFP) - Japan's deputy foreign minister has said negotiations with the Islamic State group threatening to execute a Jordanian pilot and a Japanese journalist have become "deadlocked", local media reported Saturday.
Japan's pro-nuclear government is to change some top officials at its nuclear regulator, officials said Wednesday, in what critics charge is an attempt to remove opponents to the restarting of the country's reactors.
The United States and its allies warned North Korea on Monday against provocations as researchers reported potential radiation risks due to problems at the regime's main nuclear complex.
Group of 20 finance chiefs are expected to discuss financial aid to Ukraine at their meeting later this week, as the country is believed to be teetering on the brink of fiscal collapse, Japan's Finance Minister Taro Aso said Tuesday.
Australian Defence Minister David Johnston has backed comments by his United States counterpart Chuck Hagel accusing China of "destabilising" actions in the South China Sea.
Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said Tuesday it is too early to discuss the possibility of his visiting North Korea, following Pyongyang's recent promise to reinvestigate the fate of Japanese nationals it abducted in the 1970s and 1980s.