Japan defense minister supports US in South China Sea

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.

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.

US Navy F/A-18 Super Hornet fighters (top) are seen on the deck of the USS Ronald Reagan, a Nimitz-class nuclear-powered super carrier, in the Pacific Ocean, south of Tokyo, Japan. (Reuters Photo)

Nakatani met Pacific Command commander Admiral 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 U.S. 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.

The move was a challenge to what the US considers Beijing’s “excessive claim” of sovereignty in those waters.