Japan’s prime minister said Tuesday that his country and China were close to resolving a dispute over offshore natural gas fields that had become a symbol of rising rivalries between Asia’s two richest nations.
Prime Minister Yasuo Fukuda told reporters that the two sides were close to an agreement on developing a string of natural gas [...]

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Japan’s estrangement from its postwar pacifism continued today with the enactment of a law ending its 40-year ban on the military use of space.
The law signals Tokyo’s determination to expand its military capability amid concern over China’s ballooning defence budget and North Korea’s development of ballistic and nuclear missiles.
The move will be welcomed by the [...]

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“This is a major change in Japanese space policy,” says space policy expert John Logsdon of George Washington University in Washington, DC, US.
For many years, scientists and engineers have run the country’s space programme for their own purposes. Logsdon told New Scientist that the change will “allow Japan to carry out military programmes as long [...]

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The attack on U.S. military forces of the at Pearl Harbor Hawaii did not just happen nor was it a quick reaction to initiatives instituted by President Roosevelt. The Japanese believed that they were being pushed into a corner by Roosevelt and felt that they must act to protect the Empire. The follow outline describes [...]

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MUNICH: North Korea remains a nuclear proliferation risk and China’s military programme lacks transparency, Japan’s Foreign Minister Masahiko Koumura warned here Saturday.
“The North Korean issues have made the regional security environment extremely difficult since the beginning of the 1990s,” Koumura told an international security conference in this southern German city. “The international community must continue [...]

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Japan scrambled two dozen military aircraft and lodged a protest, accusing a Russian strategic bomber of entering its airspace over the Pacific Ocean south of Tokyo Saturday.
Russia denied the incursion, but the Japanese foreign ministry said it lodged a strong protest with the Russian embassy in Tokyo over the incident, which followed stepped up Russian [...]

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Japan’s health minister on Tuesday raised the possibility that someone had deliberately contaminated with pesticide Chinese-made dumplings imported into Japan in an incident that sickened 10 Japanese and sparked a huge food scare.
Health Minister Yoichi Masuzoe’s comment came as Japanese police called for close cooperation with Chinese counterparts in investigating the case, which has prompted [...]

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Japan boosts missile defences in Tokyo
AFP - 6 hours ago
… relations with China but has also voiced concern about Beijing’s rapidly growing military spending, including advances in its cruise missiles and air …
Japan deploys third advanced missile defense system Hindu
Japan continues deployment of ballistic missile defense system Xinhua
Japan installs third PAC-3 interceptor near Tokyo Earthtimes
Christian Science [...]

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Japan is to boost its defences against cruise missiles as China increases its air strike capabilities, the Yomiuri Shimbun reported Sunday.
The defence ministry plans to increase the number of aircraft equipped with airborne warning and control systems and install state-of-the-art radar to allow early detection of precision-guided missiles heading for Japan, the daily said.
Read More…
Related [...]

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The Decline of U.S. Power in Northeast Asia
After 60 years of U.S. domination, the balance of power in Northeast Asia is shifting. The United States is in relative decline, China is on the rise, and Japan and South Korea are in flux. To maintain U.S. power in the region, Washington must identify the trends shaping [...]

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Just a few weeks ago, Japan successfully intercepted a ballistic missile over the Pacific Ocean. Facing a rising China — which had, before the Japanese test, conducted its unparalleled military buildup as a one-nation arms race — Japan has now moved decisively to defend itself. But the Japanese move may now accelerate, and engage other [...]

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The interceptor was fired by the Kongo, the first of four Japanese destroyers due to be outfitted to counter missiles that could carry chemical, biological or nuclear warheads.
By intercepting a missile similar in speed and size to those in North Korea’s arsenal, “Japan has proven its capability to defend and protect their country from North [...]

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Japan plans to develop its own stealth fighter jets to compete against the rapidly advancing Chinese air force and other threats.
Officials say Japan has been searching for replacements for its aging fleet of F-4s and F-15s.
However, its hopes of buying F-22 stealth planes from Washington have been hindered by U.S. reluctance to share sensitive military [...]

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Why are we asking this now?
Next week is the 70th anniversary of the infamous Rape of Nanjing, when Japanese soldiers went on an orgy of rape and murder in the then Chinese capital. Dubbed the “forgotten holocaust” by its most famous contemporary chronicler, Iris Chang, the massacre is the subject of no fewer than a [...]

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Japan has refused a Chinese request to tour an advanced combat ship as the US-China spat over Beijing’s refusal to allow a US aircraft carrier to dock in Hong Kong last week spilled over into Sino-Japanese military relations.
A person familiar with the Japanese decision said that the Pentagon said the move would not be appropriate [...]

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Japan set up its second ballistic missile interceptors at an air base east of Tokyo on Thursday, the Defence Ministry said, as part of its efforts to strengthen defences against neighbour North Korea.
Two Patriot Advanced Capability-3 (PAC-3) launchers, capable of shooting down incoming missiles in the final stage of flight, were deployed at the Narashino [...]

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Japan is to deploy Patriot missile batteries on the streets of Tokyo in a security drill designed to prove that it is capable of defending itself from any threat posed by North Korea or China.
Convoys carrying troops and Patriot advanced capacity-3 missiles and launcher units will leave the Air Self-Defence Force’s base at Iruma, north [...]

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Japan and China failed to break an impasse Wednesday in a spat over lucrative gas fields in the East China Sea but agreed to keep talking amid a recent easing of tension between the countries. Asia’s two largest economies, which are also among the world’s biggest energy importers, held their 11th round of talks [...]

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Japan tries to calm Russia’s security fears
Reuters - 8 hours ago
Japan trucked its first PAC-3 interceptor missiles into a military base north of Tokyo in March and plans to test its first ship-based anti-ballistic …
Japan assures Russia over missile defense International Herald Tribune
Japan, Russia: Japan Will Continue With Missile Defense Project Stratfor (subscription)
Concerned on missiles, Russia’s [...]

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Japan and China led a record withdrawl of foreign funds from the United States in August, heightening fears of a fresh slide in the dollar and a spike in US bond yields.
Fears of dollar collapse as Saudis take fright
China threatens `nuclear option’ of dollar sales
Ambrose Evans-Pritchard: This bear is not capitulating
Data from the US Treasury [...]

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TOKYO: Russia is concerned that a Japanese-U.S. missile defense plan could be an effort to preserve military superiority, Moscow’s foreign minister said in a news interview published Saturday.
Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said Moscow regarded the joint missile defense effort as an “object of concern,” expressing wariness over what he called the possibility that the system [...]

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