Tag Archives: Japan

Japan may accelerate missile defense upgrades in wake of North Korean tests

Lockheed Martin's THAAD missile model is displayed during Japan Aerospace 2016 air show in Tokyo, Japan, October 12, 2016.

By Nobuhiro Kubo and Tim Kelly

TOKYO (Reuters) – Japan may accelerate around $1 billion of planned spending to upgrade its ballistic missile defenses in the wake of rocket tests suggesting North Korea is close to fielding a more potent medium-range missile, three government sources told Reuters.

The outlays, currently in a budget request for the year starting April, includes money to assess a new missile defense layer – either Lockheed Martin Corp’s Terminal High Altitude Area Defence (THAAD) system or Aegis Ashore, a land-based version of the ballistic missile defense system used by vessels in the Sea of Japan.

It also covers money to improve the range and accuracy of PAC-3 Patriot batteries, said the sources familiar with the proposal, who asked not to be identified because they are not authorized to talk to the media.

Any rollout of THAAD or Aegis Ashore could, however, still take years, the sources noted. Accelerated spending on Patriot missile batteries is also unlikely to deliver upgrades much quicker because of the limited capacity of the companies involved – Mitsubishi Heavy Industries and Raytheon Co to speed up already tight production schedules.

“It nonetheless has symbolic value,” said one of the sources.

As much as 300 billion yen ($2.9 billion) of defense funding will be included in a third supplementary budget, the Sankei newspaper reported earlier. Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s government has yet to say whether it will ask lawmakers to approve additional outlays before deliberations begin on next year’s budget.

Officials at Japan’s Ministry of Defence were not immediately available to comment.

Members of the Japan Self-Defence Forces stand guard near Patriot Advanced Capability-3 (PAC-3) land-to-air missiles, deployed at the Defense Ministry in Tokyo, Japan

Members of the Japan Self-Defence Forces stand guard near Patriot Advanced Capability-3 (PAC-3) land-to-air missiles, deployed at the Defense Ministry in Tokyo, Japan, December 7, 2012. REUTERS/Issei Kato/File Photo

 

ARMS RACE

Pyongyang’s apparent technological progress on missiles has been faster than anticipated, exposing Japan to a heightened threat, a senior Japanese military commander told Reuters earlier this month.

Tokyo and Pyongyang have been locked in an arms race for two decades after North Korea fired a missile over Japan in 1998.

North Korea has test fired at least 21 ballistic missiles and conducted two nuclear tests so far this year. On June 22, a medium range Musudan rocket reached an altitude of 1,000 km (620 miles) on a lofted trajectory, potentially beyond the range of Aegis destroyers the Sea of Japan that are armed with SM-3 missiles designed to hit warheads at the edge of space.

That leaves older PAC-3 Patriot missiles protecting major cities including Tokyo as a last line of defense. Their upgrade program will not deliver the first improved batteries until the 2020, in time for the Tokyo Olympics.

Warheads from missiles such as Pyongyang’s Rodong, with an estimated range of 1,300 km (810 miles), travel at speeds of up to 3 km (2 miles) a second. Payloads on rockets like the Musudan, that can fly as far as 3,000 km (1,860 miles), plunge from space at least twice as fast.

Japan next year plans to acquire a more powerful version of the SM-3 it is jointly developing with the United States, dubbed the Block IIA. It has not, however, said when the first will be deployed.

(Editing by Lincoln Feast)

China armed forces warn Japan against South China sea patrols

Chinese and Japanese warships

BEIJING, Sept 29 (Reuters) – Japan is “playing with fire” with plans to step up activity in the contested South China Sea through joint training patrols with the United States, China’s Defence Ministry said on Thursday, warning it would not sit watching from the sidelines.

China claims virtually the entire South China Sea and has repeatedly denounced what it views as interference there by the United States and its ally, Japan.

Japan is strengthening its ties in the region, in particular with the Philippines and Vietnam, which contest China’s claims to parts of the sea, and it aims to help build the capacity of coastal states in the busy waterway, its defence minister said this month during a visit to Washington.

Chinese Defence Ministry spokesman Yang Yujun, asked about Japan’s plans, said it had constantly been trying to stir things up in the South China Sea for its own purposes.

“We must solemnly tell Japan this is a miscalculation. If Japan wants to have joint patrols or drills in waters under Chinese jurisdiction this really is playing with fire,” Yang told a monthly news briefing.

“China’s military will not sit idly by,” he added, without elaborating.

Ties between Asia’s two largest economies have long been overshadowed by arguments over their painful wartime history and a territorial spat in the East China Sea, among other issues.

Ships carrying about $5 trillion in trade pass through the South China Sea every year.

Brunei, Malaysia and Taiwan also have claims in the sea, which is also believed to be rich in energy resources and fish stocks.

In July, an arbitration court in the Hague said China’s claims to the waterway were invalid, after a case was brought by the Philippines. China has refused to recognise the ruling.

(Reporting by Ben Blanchard; Editing by Robert Birsel)

Top diplomats from U.S., Japan, South Korea to meet on North Korea

Ryoo Yong-gyu, Earthquake and Volcano Monitoring Division Director, points at where seismic waves observed in South Korea came from, during a media briefing at Korea Meteorological Administration in Seoul

By Tony Munroe and Ben Blanchard

SEOUL/BEIJING, Sept 14 (Reuters) – U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry will meet with his Japanese and South Korean counterparts in New York on Sunday to discuss responses to North Korea’s latest nuclear test, South Korea’s foreign ministry said on Wednesday.

The three countries are pushing for tough new U.N. Security Council sanctions on North Korea after the isolated country on Friday conducted its fifth and largest nuclear test.

The blast was in defiance of U.N. sanctions that were tightened in March.

China, the North’s chief ally, backed the March resolution but is more resistant to harsh new sanctions this time after the United States and South Korea decided to deploy a sophisticated anti-missile system in the South, which China adamantly opposes.

South Korea said Foreign Minister Yun Byung-se and his counterparts Kerry and Japanese Foreign Minister Fumio Kishida will meet during the annual U.N. General Assembly to discuss putting further pressure on North Korea.

The United States wants China to do more, with U.S. Defense Secretary Ash Carter last week singling out the role he said China should play in curbing its neighbor.

TESTING TIMES

North Korea has been testing nuclear weapons and ballistic missiles at an unprecedented rate this year under young leader Kim Jong Un.

On Tuesday, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi spoke with South Korea’s Yun by phone, expressing Beijing’s opposition to the North’s latest nuclear test but also reiterating opposition to the planned deployment of the Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THADD) anti-missile system in the South, China’s foreign ministry said.

China is North Korea’s most important diplomatic and trade partner and refuses to cut the country off completely, fearing it could collapse.

Beijing’s official People’s Daily newspaper on Wednesday called the United States a troublemaker and said it has no right to lecture China about taking responsibility for reining in North Korea as tensions on the peninsula are a direct result of U.S. actions.

In a commentary, the ruling Communist Party’s official paper said the United States was pretending it had nothing to do with the North Korea issue and was putting the blame on others.

“People have reason to doubt whether Washington is willing to make the effort to push the North Korea issue in the direction of a resolution,” the paper said.

China and Russia have pushed for a resumption of six party talks on denuclearization in North Korea. The talks, which also involve Japan, South Korea and the United States, have been on hold since 2008.

Washington has said it is willing to negotiate with the North if it the country commits to denuclearization, which Pyongyang has refused to do.

Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe will seek Cuba’s help in responding to North Korea’s nuclear and missile programs during a rare visit to Havana next week, a spokesman said.

Top diplomats from U.S., Japan, South Korea to meet on North Korea

World leaders from US, Japan, and South Korea

By Tony Munroe and Ben Blanchard

SEOUL/BEIJING (Reuters) – U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry will meet with his Japanese and South Korean counterparts in New York on Sunday to discuss responses to North Korea’s latest nuclear test, South Korea’s foreign ministry said on Wednesday.

The three countries are pushing for tough new U.N. Security Council sanctions on North Korea after the isolated country on Friday conducted its fifth and largest nuclear test.

The blast was in defiance of U.N. sanctions that were tightened in March.

China, the North’s chief ally, backed the March resolution but is more resistant to harsh new sanctions this time after the United States and South Korea decided to deploy a sophisticated anti-missile system in the South, which China adamantly opposes.

South Korea said Foreign Minister Yun Byung-se and his counterparts Kerry and Japanese Foreign Minister Fumio Kishida will meet during the annual U.N. General Assembly to discuss putting further pressure on North Korea.

The United States wants China to do more, with U.S. Defence Secretary Ash Carter last week singling out the role he said China should play in curbing its neighbor.

TESTING TIMES

North Korea has been testing nuclear weapons and ballistic missiles at an unprecedented rate this year under young leader Kim Jong Un.

On Tuesday, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi spoke with South Korea’s Yun by phone, expressing Beijing’s opposition to the North’s latest nuclear test but also reiterating opposition to the planned deployment of the Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THADD) anti-missile system in the South, China’s foreign ministry said.

China is North Korea’s most important diplomatic and trade partner and refuses to cut the country off completely, fearing it could collapse.

Beijing’s official People’s Daily newspaper on Wednesday called the United States a troublemaker and said it has no right to lecture China about taking responsibility for reining in North Korea as tensions on the peninsula are a direct result of U.S. actions.

In a commentary, the ruling Communist Party’s official paper said the United States was pretending it had nothing to do with the North Korea issue and was putting the blame on others.

“People have reason to doubt whether Washington is willing to make the effort to push the North Korea issue in the direction of a resolution,” the paper said.

China and Russia have pushed for a resumption of six party talks on denuclearization in North Korea. The talks, which also involve Japan, South Korea and the United States, have been on hold since 2008.

Washington has said it is willing to negotiate with the North if it the country commits to denuclearization, which Pyongyang has refused to do.

Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe will seek Cuba’s help in responding to North Korea’s nuclear and missile programs during a rare visit to Havana next week, a spokesman said.

(Editing by Lincoln Feast)

Asia leaders tiptoe around South China Sea tensions

Asian leaders

By Amy Sawitta Lefevre and Manuel Mogato

VIENTIANE, Sept 8 (Reuters) – Asian leaders played down
tensions over the South China Sea in a carefully worded summit
statement on Thursday, but even before it was issued Beijing
voiced frustration with countries outside the region
“interfering” in tussles over the strategic waterway.

The heads of 10 Southeast Asian nations, as well as U.S.
President Barack Obama and Chinese Premier Li Keqiang among six
other leaders, “reaffirmed the importance of maintaining peace,
stability, security and freedom of navigation in and over-flight
in the South China Sea.”

But the draft of a statement to be issued in Vientiane,
Laos, tiptoed around the regional strains caused by competing
claims to areas of the strategically important sea.

“Several leaders remained seriously concerned over recent
developments in the South China Sea,” said the draft.

The statement, seen by Reuters, made no reference to a July
ruling by a court in The Hague that declared illegal some of
China’s artificial islands in the sea and invalidated its claims
to almost the entire waterway.

Obama said on Thursday the ruling had helped clarify
maritime rights. “I recognize this raises tensions but I also
look forward to discussing how we can constructively move
forward together to lower tensions,” he said at a summit
meeting.

Officials said that talks on Wednesday between leaders of
the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) and China’s
Li had gone smoothly.

But in a statement later from China’s Foreign Ministry, Li
was paraphrased as saying China was willing to work with
Southeast Asian countries in “dispelling interference … and
properly handling the South China Sea issue.”

He did not elaborate, but such wording is typically used by
Chinese leaders to refer to not allowing countries from outside
the region with no direct involvement in the dispute, like the
United States, from getting involved.

China claims much of the South China Sea, through which more
than $5 trillion of trade moves annually. Taiwan and four ASEAN
members – Vietnam, the Philippines, Malaysia and Brunei – also
have claims, making it a hot spot of regional tension.

The other ASEAN nations are Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos,
Myanmar, Singapore and Thailand. Leaders from Australia, China,
India, Japan, New Zealand, Russia, South Korea and the United
States also attended the summit.

China has over the past year alarmed other claimants, and
outside powers such as the United States and Japan, by
re-claiming land on several disputed reefs through dredging, and
building air fields and port facilities.

Shattering an illusion of cordiality at the summit in Laos
on Wednesday, U.S. ally the Philippines released photographs and
a map showing what it said was an increased number of Chinese
vessels near the disputed Scarborough Shoal, which China seized
after a standoff in 2012.

Its defense ministry expressed “grave concern” that Chinese
boats were preparing to build structures at the shoal.

CLEARED THE AIR

The Philippines’ move came after a dispute with the United
States, its former colonial power. Ties turned frosty when new
President Rodrigo Duterte insulted U.S. counterpart Barack Obama
on Monday, prompting the cancellation of a meeting between them.

The two leaders made some steps towards clearing the air
late on Wednesday, however, chatting briefly, and exchanging
pleasantries as they prepared to take their seats at a leaders’
dinner.

The United States has been a staunch ally of the Philippines
and China has repeatedly blamed Washington for stirring up
trouble in the South China Sea.

Washington says it has no position on the territorial
disputes but wants to ensure freedom of navigation. To press
that point, it has conducted patrols near Chinese-held islands.

Although the Scarborough Shoal is merely a few rocks poking
above the sea, it is important to the Philippines because of the
fish stocks in the area. Manila says China’s blockade of the
shoal is a violation of international law.

The dispute has become more significant since the Permanent
Court of Arbitration ruled in July that no country had sovereign
rights over activity at Scarborough Shoal. China has refused to
recognize the ruling by the court in The Hague.

Li made no direct mention of Scarborough Shoal in the
comments provided by the foreign ministry, but Beijing said on
Wednesday there had been no new activity there and “some people”
were spreading information that was “hyping the situation.”

China’s embassy in Manila said there has been no dredging or
building at the shoal and China has maintained a coastguard
presence there for law enforcement patrols.

A statement by ASEAN on Wednesday listed eight points
related to the South China Sea, but made no mention of the
arbitration ruling.

The bloc traditionally shies away from taking a position on
thorny diplomatic issues, especially where China is concerned,
because of its influence in the region and the need to balance
ties with the United States.

“Both China and the United States are among the most
important partners of ASEAN, and ASEAN does not want to have to
choose between those partners,” the secretary general of the
bloc, Le Luong Minh, told Reuters in an interview on Thursday.

(Additional reporting by Ben Blanchard in Beijing; Writing by
John Chalmers; Editing by Raju Gopalakrishnan)

North Korea’s Kim declares sub missile launch ‘greatest success’

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un is pictured during a test-fire of strategic submarine-launched ballistic missile

By Jack Kim

SEOUL (Reuters) – North Korean leader Kim Jong Un supervised the test-firing of a submarine-launched ballistic missile and declared it “the greatest success,” which puts the country in the “front rank” of nuclear military powers, official media reported on Thursday.

North Korea fired a submarine-launched ballistic missile (SLBM) on Wednesday which flew about 500 km (300 miles) towards Japan. The South Korean government and experts said the launch showed technical progress in the North’s SLBM program.

“A test-fire of strategic submarine-launched ballistic missile was successfully conducted under the guidance of supreme commander of the Korean People’s Army Kim Jong Un,” the North’s official KCNA news agency said.

“He appreciated the test-fire as the greatest success and victory,” KCNA said.

“He noted with pride that the results of the test-fire proved in actuality that the DPRK joined the front rank of the military powers fully equipped with nuclear attack capability.”

DPRK, the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, is North Korea’s formal name.

A test-fire of strategic submarine-launched ballistic missile is seen in this undated photo

A test-fire of strategic submarine-launched ballistic missile is seen in this undated photo released by North Korea’s Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) in Pyongyang August 25, 2016. REUTERS/KCNA

North Korea has conducted a spate of military technology tests this year, including a fourth nuclear test in January and numerous ballistic missile launches, in defiance of U.N. Security Council sanctions that were tightened in March.

North Korea said this year it had miniaturized a nuclear warhead to fit on a ballistic missile but outside experts have said there is yet no firm evidence to back up that claim or show it had mastered the technology to bring a live warhead back into the atmosphere and guide it to strike a target.

North Korean state television on Thursday showed video clips of the launch of a missile from underwater at dawn, and still photographs of Kim on the dock at a port as a large crane unloaded an object onto a submarine.

Kim is also seen jubilantly celebrating with military aides in photographs carried by the official Rodong Sinmun newspaper.

REACHED JAPAN DEFENCE ZONE

The Washington-based 38 North project said in a report that the missile was launched from the North’s sole experimental missile submarine and a satellite photograph taken on Monday showed final preparations, likely after the missile had already been loaded onto the submarine using a heavy construction crane.

The test showed the solid-fuel missile’s control and guidance system as well as the atmospheric re-entry of the warhead all met operational requirements, KCNA said.

The South Korean and U.S. militaries said the missile was fired from near the coastal city of Sinpo, where a submarine base is located. Japan said the missile reached its air defense identification zone, the first time by a North Korean missile.

The UN Security Council met behind closed doors on Wednesday at the request of the United States and Japan to discuss the launch. Deputy Russian U.N. Ambassador Petr Iliichev said the United States would circulate a draft press statement.

The meeting comes after the Security Council was unable to condemn a missile launch by the North earlier this month that landed near Japan because China wanted the statement to also oppose the planned deployment of a U.S. missile defense system in South Korea.

China said on Wednesday that it opposes the North’s nuclear and missile programs. It had been angered by what it views as provocative moves by the United States and South Korea on the decision to deploy the THAAD (Terminal High Altitude Area Defence) anti-missile system in South Korea.

(Additional reporting by Minwoo Park in Seoul and Michelle Nichols at the United Nations; Editing by Raju Gopalakrishnan)

North Korea fires submarine launched ballistic missile

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un guides on the spot the underwater test-fire of strategic submarine ballistic missile

By Ju-min Park and Jack Kim

SEOUL (Reuters) – North Korea fired a submarine-launched missile on Wednesday that flew about 500 km (311 miles) towards Japan, a show of improving technological capability for the isolated country that has conducted a series of launches in defiance of UN sanctions.

Having the ability to fire a missile from a submarine could help North Korea evade a new anti-missile system planned for South Korea and pose a threat even if nuclear-armed North Korea’s land-based arsenal was destroyed, experts said.

The ballistic missile was fired at around 5:30 a.m. (2030 GMT) from near the coastal city of Sinpo, where a submarine base is located, officials at South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff and the Defence Ministry told Reuters.

The projectile reached Japan’s air defence identification zone (ADIZ) for the first time, Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga told a briefing, referring to an area of control designated by countries to help maintain air security.

The missile was fired at a high angle, South Korea’s Yonhap News Agency reported, an indication that its full range would be 1,000 km (620 miles) at an ordinary trajectory. The distance indicated the North’s push to develop a submarine-launched missile system was paying off, officials and experts said.

North Korea’s “SLBM (submarine-launched ballistic missile) technology appears to have progressed,” a South Korean military official told Reuters.

Jeffrey Lewis of the California-based Middlebury Institute of International Studies said the test appeared to be a success.

“We don’t know the full range, but 500 km is either full range or a full range on a lofted trajectory. Either way, that missile works.”

The launch came two days after rival South Korea and the United States began annual military exercises in the South that North Korea condemns as a preparation for invasion, and has threatened retaliation.

Beijing is Pyongyang’s main ally but has joined past U.N. Security Council resolutions against the North. It has been angered by what it views as provocative moves by the United States and South Korea, including their July decision to base the THAAD (Terminal High Altitude Area Defence) anti-missile system in South Korea.

China opposes North Korea’s nuclear and missile programme as well as any words or deeds that cause tension on the Korean peninsula, its foreign minister, Wang Yi, said on Wednesday at previously scheduled meeting with his Japanese and South Korean counterparts in Tokyo.

South Korea’s Foreign Ministry condemned the launch and warned of more sanctions and isolation for its rival that “will only speed up its self-destruction.”

“This poses a grave threat to Japan’s security, and is an unforgivable act that damages regional peace and stability markedly,” Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe told reporters, adding that Japan had lodged a stern protest.

GROWING ISOLATION

North Korea has become further isolated after a January nuclear test, its fourth, and the launch of a long-range rocket in February which brought tightened UN sanctions.

It has launched numerous missiles of various types this year, including one this month that landed in or near Japanese-controlled waters.

Joshua Pollack, editor of the U.S.-based Nonproliferation Review, said claiming to have mastered SLBM technology is as much about prestige as a military breakthrough, a status enjoyed only by six countries including the United States, Russia and China.

“I think it’s meant foremost as a demonstration of sheer technical capability and a demand for status and respect,” Pollack said.

South Korea believes the North has a fleet of more than 70 aging, limited-range submarines – a mix of Chinese, Russian and locally made boats. Acquiring a fleet of submarines large and quiet enough and with a longer range would be a next step for the North, experts said.

“They keep conducting nuclear tests and SLBMs together which means they are showing they can arm SLBMs with miniaturised nuclear warheads,” said Moon Keun-sik, a retired South Korean navy officer and an expert in submarine warfare.

North Korea said this year it had miniaturized a nuclear warhead to fit on a ballistic missile but outside experts have said there is yet to be firm evidence to back up the claim.

Tensions on the Korean peninsula were exacerbated by the recent defection of North Korea’s deputy ambassador in London to South Korea, an embarrassing setback to the regime of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un.

(Additional reporting by James Pearson and Yun Hwan Chae in Seoul, Phil Stewart and David Alexander in Washington, Ben Blanchard in Beijing and Kiyoshi Takenaka in Tokyo; Writing by Tony Munroe; Editing by Lincoln Feast)

Philippines gets first coastguard boat from Japan to boost security

Japan giving Philippines ship

MANILA (Reuters) – Japan on Thursday delivered to the Philippines the first of 10 coastguard vessels to help it improve its maritime security and law enforcement in the South China Sea where tension has been rising over a territorial dispute with China.

China claims almost the entire South China Sea where about $5 trillion worth of sea-borne trade passes every year. Brunei, Malaysia, the Philippines, Taiwan and Vietnam also have claims in the sea believed to have rich deposits of oil and gas.

Japan has no claims in the waterway but worries about China’s growing military reach across sea lanes through which much of Japan’s trade passes.

Philippine coastguard chief Rear Admiral William Melad said the 44-metre (144-foot) vessel from Japan would be sent out to sea on patrols and law enforcement operations.

“It can be used for maritime security operations but it’s not for combat,” Melad told reporters.

The boat would also be used for humanitarian work and disaster relief operations. Japan will supply nine more of the vessels under a 7.3 billion peso ($158 million) soft loan agreement.

Melad did not mention China but its increasingly assertive claims in disputed South China Sea waters pose for the Philippines its most pressing security concern.

China has dredged up sand and built up reefs to make seven islands in the Spratly islands, some with port facilities and air strips.

China says is has the right to do whatever work it wants on its territory, and its aims are entirely peaceful, but an arbitration court in The Hague last month rejected China’s historic claim to the South China Sea.

China did not participate in and has refused to accept the July 12 ruling by the Permanent Court of Arbitration.

Japan and the Philippines are in talks about two more large coastguard ships worth about 10 billion pesos ($215 million) and the lease of four TC-90 surveillance aircraft.

Japan has also warming relations with Vietnam, promising to help strengthen its coastguard with training, vessels and other equipment.

Philippine coastguard spokesman Commander Armand Balilo said the force would be expanded over the next two years with the recruitment of 6,000 more personnel and the acquisition of more boats and aircraft from the United States to protect the country’s exclusive economic zone.

(Reporting by Manuel Mogato; Editing by Robert Birsel)

New images suggest China has built reinforced hangars on disputed islands

Chinese dredging vessels are purportedly seen in the waters around Mischief Reef in the disputed Spratly Islands in the South China Sea in this still image from video taken by a P-8A Poseidon surveillance aircraft provided by the United States Navy

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Recent satellite photographs show China appears to have built reinforced aircraft hangars on its holdings in the disputed South China Sea, according to a Washington-based think tank.

Pictures taken in late July show the hangars constructed on Fiery Cross, Subi and Mischief Reefs in the Spratly islands, have room for any fighter jet in the Chinese air force, the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS).

“Except for a brief visit by a military transport plane to Fiery Cross Reef earlier this year, there is no evidence that Beijing has deployed military aircraft to these outposts. But the rapid construction of reinforced hangars at all three features indicates that this is likely to change,” CSIS said in a report.

China claims most of the South China Sea, through which $5 trillion in ship-borne trade passes every year. The Philippines, Vietnam, Malaysia, Taiwan and Brunei have overlapping claims.

The images have emerged about a month after an international court in The Hague ruled against China’s sweeping claims in the resource-rich region, a ruling emphatically rejected by Beijing.

The United States has urged China and other claimants not to militarize their holdings in the South China Sea.

China has repeatedly denied doing so and has in turn criticized U.S. patrols and exercises for ramping up tensions.

“China has indisputable sovereignty over the Spratly islands and nearby waters,” China’s Defence Ministry said in a faxed response to a request for comment on Tuesday.

“China has said many times, construction on the Spratly islands and reefs is multipurpose, mixed, and with the exception of necessary military defensive requirements, are more for serving all forms of civil needs.”

Ties around the region have been strained in the lead-up to and since The Hague ruling.

China has sent bombers and fighter jets on combat patrols near the contested South China Sea islands, state media reported on Saturday, and Japan has complained about what it has said were multiple intrusions into its territorial waters around another group of islands in the East China Sea.

The hangars all show signs of structural strengthening, CSIS said.

“They are far thicker than you would build for any civilian purpose,” Gregory Poling, director of CSIS’s Asia Maritime Transparency Initiative, told the New York Times, which first reported on the new images. “They’re reinforced to take a strike.”

Other facilities including unidentified towers and hexagonal structures have also been built on the islets in recent months, CSIS said.

(Reporting by Eric Beech and Idrees Ali in Washington and Michael Martina in Beijing.; Editing by Lincoln Feast)

Japan urges China not to escalate East China Sea tension

Japan's Chief Cabinet Secretary Suga arrives at Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's official residence in Tokyo

By Kaori Kaneko

TOKYO (Reuters) – Japan said on Monday it would respond firmly after Chinese government vessels intruded into what Japan considers its territorial waters near disputed islands in the East China Sea 14 times at the weekend.

Ties between China and Japan, the world’s second and third largest economies, have for years been plagued by a dispute over the islands that Japan controls, and the waters around them.

The flurry of Chinese incursions into the waters follows a period of sustained pressure on China about its activities in the South China Sea, and a Chinese criticism of what it saw as Japanese interference in that dispute.

Chinese activity near the disputed East China Sea islands, known as the Senkaku in Japan and the Diaoyu in China, has heated up since Friday, Japanese officials said, prompting repeated Japanese protests, including three on Sunday alone.

Japan’s Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga said Japan would urge China not to escalate the East China Sea dispute, while also responding firmly and calmly.

Agencies including the coastguard would act closely together to deal with the situation, Suga said.

A Japanese government source, who asked not to be identified, said Japan’s coastguard had stepped up its patrols in the region at the weekend but declined to give further details.

About 230 Chinese fishing vessels were in the area on Saturday, Japan’s foreign ministry said.

China’s foreign ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying said in a statement on Saturday that China had indisputable sovereignty over the islands and nearby waters.

In the South China Sea, Japan has no claims and China recently rejected warned Japan not to interfere.

The United States, its Southeast Asian allies and Japan have questioned Chinese land reclamation on disputed islands in the South China Sea, especially after an international court last month rejected China’s historic claims to most of that sea.

China has refused to recognize the court ruling. Japan called on China to adhere to it, saying it was binding. China warned Japan not to interfere.

The spike in tension over the East China Sea also follows a Chinese accusation that Japan’s new defense minister, Tomomi Inada, had recklessly misrepresented history after she declined to say after her appointment last week if Japanese troops had massacred civilians in China during World War Two.

The legacy of Japan’s wartime occupation of parts of China is another thorn in relations between the neighbors.

China, and other counties in Asia, in particular South Korea, feel that Japan has never properly atoned for its aggression before and during World War Two.

Relations between South Korea and China have also been strained in recent days by a decision by South Korea and the United States to deploy an advanced anti-missile defense system, to guard against North Korean attacks, that China fears could be used against its military.

South Korea’s presidential office on Sunday rebuked China over its criticism of South Korea’s decision to deploy the anti-missile defense, urging China instead to play a stronger role against North Korea’s provocations.

South Korea and the United States began discussions to deploy the Terminal High Altitude Area Defence (THAAD) unit in the South after the North’s fourth nuclear test in January and a long-range rocket launch in defiance of U.N. sanctions.

(Reporting by Kaori Kaneko, Nobuhiro Kubo, Tim Kelly and Kiyoshi Takenaka; writing by Linda Sieg; Editing by Paul Tait, Robert Birsel)