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US Navy deploys new surveillance aircraft to Japan
by Staff Writers
Washington (AFP) Dec 02, 2013


Biden to meet Japan leaders amid China tensions
Tokyo (AFP) Dec 02, 2013 - US Vice President Joe Biden will meet Japanese leaders Tuesday, with Tokyo hoping for some fulsome backing in its vicious territorial spat with China.

Biden arrived in Tokyo late Monday on the first leg of an Asian tour that will also take him to Beijing and to Seoul.

It comes as tensions in the region are at their highest for years, with China and Japan squaring off over a chain of uninhabited islands in the East China Sea.

"In Tokyo, the Vice President will reaffirm the enduring strength of the US-Japan alliance as a cornerstone of peace and stability in the region," the White House said in a statement.

Last month Beijing declared an Air Defence Identification Zone, or ADIZ, over the East China Sea, including the disputed chain, in which it warned all aircraft had to obey Chinese orders or face unspecified "defensive emergency measures".

The US, Japan and South Korea, angry at the declaration, have all sent military or paramilitary aircraft into the zone since.

In Washington, senior administration officials said Biden, who is expected to meet Chinese President Xi Jinping in Beijing later this week, plans to convey Washington's "concerns" to China and seek clarity regarding its intentions with the move.

Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe will be looking for Biden to bolster his position that China is being unreasonable and aggressive, said Takehiko Yamamoto, professor of international politics at Waseda University in Tokyo.

"But at the same time, Washington does not want to take the risk of damaging its bilateral ties with China," he said.

"Biden will deliver the message to the Chinese side but may also seek to play a role in mediating," he added.

Analysts point out that Tokyo and Washington appear at odds over instructions to their airline flying over the zone, with Tokyo telling its firms they should not comply and the US advising American companies that they should.

As well as meetings with Abe and vice premier Taro Aso, Biden will sit down with Crown Prince Naruhito.

He will move to Beijing on Wednesday to hold talks with Xi before flying to Seoul, where he is to meet South Korean President Park Geun-Hye.

President Barack Obama, who spent part of his childhood in Indonesia, pledged in his first term to "pivot" US foreign policy toward Asia.

But he called off a trip to the region in October to negotiate with Republicans who shut down the US government in a failed bid to stop his signature health care reform.

Biden's visit is intended to help re-affirm US committment to the region, ahead of an intended trip to Asia by Obama in April.

The US Navy has deployed sophisticated surveillance aircraft to Japan, officials said Monday, amid rising tension over China's territorial claims in the region.

Two P-8A Poseidon patrol jets departed Jacksonville, Florida on Friday and arrived later at Kadena air base in Okinawa, in a move that was planned before Beijing declared an air defense zone last month covering disputed islands in the East China Sea, a navy official told AFP.

"This was scheduled for a long time," said the official, who spoke on condition of anonymity.

"It's a rotational deployment."

Four more Poseidon aircraft are due to deploy at Okinawa later this month, the official said.

The assignment to Japan marks the first mission for the new plane, which is replacing the propeller-driven P-3 Orion aircraft that dates back to the 1960s.

The P-8A planes, converted Boeing 737s equipped with advanced radar and anti-ship missiles, are designed to hunt submarines and track other vessels at sea.

On November 23, China announced an expanded air defense identification zone and said aircraft would have to submit flight plans before entering the area, home to disputed islands in the East China Sea.

Japan, South Korea, Taiwan and the United States have each sent planes into the zone without informing the Chinese, signalling their refusal to recognize Beijing's declaration.

After sending in two B-52 bombers last week, the US military has kept up "routine" military flights in the area but there has been no hostile response from China, Pentagon spokesman Colonel Steven Warren told reporters Monday.

"The Chinese reaction to our operations has been normal," Warren said.

"We haven't changed our operational tempo," he added.

The deployment of the P-8 aircraft came as US Vice President Joe Biden set out Sunday on a trip to Asia which will include a visit to Beijing, where he will discuss the spike in regional tensions.

Senior US officials said Biden would convey Washington's "concerns" about China's air defense zone and seek clarity regarding its intentions.

While military flights have gone ahead as planned, the US State Department has advised American commercial airlines to observe China's demand for advance notice of aircraft entering the zone.

China and Japan have been locked in a mounting territorial argument over the island chain known as Senkaku in Japanese and Diaoyu in Chinese.

Although taking no position on the sovereignty dispute, Washington says it would uphold its defense treaty with Japan in the event of a conflict.

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