US considering new radar installation in East Asia

The US may be in talks with Japan to establish a missile defense facility on a southern Japanese island in response to increasing aggression from China and the North Korea, Bloomberg reported. The Wall Street Journal quoted two unnamed officials as saying that the Pentagon is considering a new installation of its advanced X-Band radar arrays, intended to reassure regional allies such as Japan, the Philippines and Vietnam. The US already has one X-Band system deployed in northern Japan, but an additional system in the southern part of the country would better protect allies against North Korea, which earlier this year attempted to launch a long-range missile over the region. But analysts suggested other motives may be at play. “If they are moving down to Southeast Asia, they are probably making an effort to counter Chinese missile systems,” said Richard Bitzinger, a senior fellow at Singapore’s Nanyang Technological University.