mysterious
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Japan’s missile defence to protect air space
TOKYO: Japan will only use its missile defence system to shoot down missiles heading for its own territory - a decision that may irritate its biggest ally, the United States, Kyodo news agency said on Sunday. Citing government sources, it said the decision was taken on Saturday in line with Japan’s pacifist constitution that the government interprets as forbidding collective self defence.
No one was available at the Defence Ministry for comment. Shaken by North Korea’s 1998 firing of a ballistic missile, which flew over Japan and landed in the Pacific Ocean, Tokyo plans to deploy a two-stage missile defence system in 2007 at a cost of about 1 trillion yen ($9.53 billion).
The United States is likely to press Japan to change its mind as limiting use of the shield would prevent Tokyo from trying to intercept any missile passing over Japan but targeting US territory, Kyodo said. If North Korea were to fire a missile at Hawaii or Guam, it would pass over Japan, but a missile targeting the mainland US would not fly over Japanese territory, the agency said.
In cases where the missile’s target cannot be predicted, Japan would treat the launch as an attack on its own territory, allowing interception, Kyodo quoted a Defence Agency official as saying. Reuters
http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp?page=story_10-1-2005_pg4_13
Now what just happened here? Looks like, US is going to be pressurizing Japan a bit on this issue to include 'collective defense' the way I see it. Any light you can shed on this Gary?
TOKYO: Japan will only use its missile defence system to shoot down missiles heading for its own territory - a decision that may irritate its biggest ally, the United States, Kyodo news agency said on Sunday. Citing government sources, it said the decision was taken on Saturday in line with Japan’s pacifist constitution that the government interprets as forbidding collective self defence.
No one was available at the Defence Ministry for comment. Shaken by North Korea’s 1998 firing of a ballistic missile, which flew over Japan and landed in the Pacific Ocean, Tokyo plans to deploy a two-stage missile defence system in 2007 at a cost of about 1 trillion yen ($9.53 billion).
The United States is likely to press Japan to change its mind as limiting use of the shield would prevent Tokyo from trying to intercept any missile passing over Japan but targeting US territory, Kyodo said. If North Korea were to fire a missile at Hawaii or Guam, it would pass over Japan, but a missile targeting the mainland US would not fly over Japanese territory, the agency said.
In cases where the missile’s target cannot be predicted, Japan would treat the launch as an attack on its own territory, allowing interception, Kyodo quoted a Defence Agency official as saying. Reuters
http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp?page=story_10-1-2005_pg4_13
Now what just happened here? Looks like, US is going to be pressurizing Japan a bit on this issue to include 'collective defense' the way I see it. Any light you can shed on this Gary?