The US nuclear-powered aircraft carrier USS Ronald Reagan yesterday docked at its new home in Japan’s Yokosuka naval port just as Tokyo tries to deepen defense ties with the US under new security laws that expand the role of Japan’s military.
The warship’s arrival received a warm welcome from Japanese officials because of its role in disaster relief after the March 2011 earthquake and tsunami disaster as part of the US government’s tomodachi, or “friends,” project.
At a welcoming ceremony, US Secretary of the Navy Ray Mabus said the arrival and the welcome the vessel received are “visible symbols of our shared commitment to one another and regional stability.”
Photo: AP
However, outside the port, a small group of citizens protested the aircraft carrier’s deployment as a move to step up Japan’s military cooperation with the US.
Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s government enacted new laws that would allow the country’s troops to also defend their allies, mainly the US, overseas, in a chaotic parliamentary session last month disrupted by opposition lawmakers’ vote-delaying attempts.
Abe says Japan needs the laws to increase its deterrence capabilities amid China’s growing assertiveness, North Korea’s missile and nuclear ambitions and other security concerns.
However, many Japanese worry the new laws increase the risk of Japan being embroiled in US-led wars.
The carrier, which came with about 5,000 crewmembers, replaces the USS George Washington, which was the first US nuclear-powered warship based in Japan, where atomic weapons are a sensitive issue.
Three destroyers are set to be deployed later this year to Yokosuka, near Tokyo, bringing the number of Yokosuka-based US warships to 14, the largest since Japan’s World War II defeat in 1945, Kyodo News reported.
PRECARIOUS RELATIONS: Commentators in Saudi Arabia accuse the UAE of growing too bold, backing forces at odds with Saudi interests in various conflicts A Saudi Arabian media campaign targeting the United Arab Emirates (UAE) has deepened the Gulf’s worst row in years, stoking fears of a damaging fall-out in the financial heart of the Middle East. Fiery accusations of rights abuses and betrayal have circulated for weeks in state-run and social media after a brief conflict in Yemen, where Saudi airstrikes quelled an offensive by UAE-backed separatists. The United Arab Emirates is “investing in chaos and supporting secessionists” from Libya to Yemen and the Horn of Africa, Saudi Arabia’s al-Ekhbariya TV charged in a report this week. Such invective has been unheard of
US President Donald Trump on Saturday warned Canada that if it concludes a trade deal with China, he would impose a 100 percent tariff on all goods coming over the border. Relations between the US and its northern neighbor have been rocky since Trump returned to the White House a year ago, with spats over trade and Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney decrying a “rupture” in the US-led global order. During a visit to Beijing earlier this month, Carney hailed a “new strategic partnership” with China that resulted in a “preliminary, but landmark trade agreement” to reduce tariffs — but
SCAM CLAMPDOWN: About 130 South Korean scam suspects have been sent home since October last year, and 60 more are still waiting for repatriation Dozens of South Koreans allegedly involved in online scams in Cambodia were yesterday returned to South Korea to face investigations in what was the largest group repatriation of Korean criminal suspects from abroad. The 73 South Korean suspects allegedly scammed fellow Koreans out of 48.6 billion won (US$33 million), South Korea said. Upon arrival in South Korea’s Incheon International Airport aboard a chartered plane, the suspects — 65 men and eight women — were sent to police stations. Local TV footage showed the suspects, in handcuffs and wearing masks, being escorted by police officers and boarding buses. They were among about 260 South
Chinese President Xi Jinping’s (習近平) purge of his most senior general is driven by his effort to both secure “total control” of his military and root out corruption, US Ambassador to China David Perdue said told Bloomberg Television yesterday. The probe into Zhang Youxia (張又俠), Xi’s second-in-command, announced over the weekend, is a “major development,” Perdue said, citing the family connections the vice chair of China’s apex military commission has with Xi. Chinese authorities said Zhang was being investigated for suspected serious discipline and law violations, without disclosing further details. “I take him at his word that there’s a corruption effort under
RSS