The Japanese and US governments are considering joint patrols and surveillance in the South China Sea, reports China's state-owned China News Service.
The two sides were said to have come to a consensus on April 8 during a meeting between the US secretary of defense, Ashton Carter, with the Japanese defense minister, Gen Nakatani. The plan will reportedly be fleshed out in more detail when Japan and the US update their bilateral defense cooperation guidelines later this month.
Citing a Japanese government source, the report says that the Japan Self-Defense Forces and the United States Armed Forces aim to ensure the stability of sea lanes Japan needs for the importation of crude oil. The move is also allegedly targeted at pressuring China to back off from its aggressive stance in the region, where it is embroiled in territorial disputes with Vietnam and the Philippines.
While Japan and China are locked in a bitter dispute over the Diaoyutai islands (Diaoyu to China, Senkaku to Japan) in the East China Sea, extending Japanese patrols to the South China Sea as well would no doubt be regarded as a provocative move by Beijing.
Read the full story at Want China Times