The U.S. is increasingly worried that territorial disputes in the Pacific could inadvertently erupt into a conflict and is also hoping to disentangle snares in its own relationship with Japan that could threaten to derail the deployment of a new Marine troop-transport aircraft.
With tensions already high between Japan and China over disputed islands in the East China Sea, protests by Chinese citizens surged Saturday over Tokyo's decision last week to buy three islands it doesn't own from their private owner.
Mr. Panetta, who heads to Beijing after his Tokyo visit, said the U.S. hopes territorial disputes in both the East China and South China seas can be settled peacefully. Tensions have flared in the South China Sea in recent months between China and the Philippines over control of the Scarborough Shoals.
"What we don't want is any kind of provocative behavior on the part of China or anybody else, resulting in conflict," Mr. Panetta said at a news conference aboard his plane en route to Japan. Provocations, he said, could lead to the possibility of misjudgments and eventually violence. "And that conflict would have the potential of expanding," he warned.
Mr. Panetta is to meet with Japanese Defense Minister Satoshi Morimoto on Monday, and the two men are scheduled to hold a news conference.
Mr. Panetta will also have to navigate the shoals of a conflict in which the U.S. is more directly involved. Protests have grown in recent weeks in Okinawa over deployment of the Marine Corps tilt-rotor V-22 Osprey. Japanese officials have raised concerns about its safety and flight record and have succeeded in blocking deployment of as many as 24 of the aircraft on Okinawa. The first 12 V-22 are grounded at the U.S. base in Iwakuni, and haven't been allowed on to Okinawa.Mr. Panetta didn't address the disagreement over the Ospreys directly over the weekend. But he emphasized the importance the U.S. places on its alliance with Japan, and Japan's role in hosting U.S. forces in the region.
Japanese officials have focused on recent accidents with the aircraft, which can take off and land like a helicopter but flies like a plane. Okinawans are hoping to restrict the altitudes at which the Ospreys can fly, but Marines object to the restrictions.
In a briefing in Washington on Friday, a senior U.S. defense official said that the U.S. "looked forward" to making progress on the Osprey issue and that Tokyo and Washington were in a good dialogue over the deployment. "This entire process has been about reconfirming the safety," of the Osprey, the official said. "We have had a lengthy, robust, collaborative, constructive process that has basically led to a great deal of understanding, transparency and helped us make progress on this issue."
Despite the collaboration and transparency, there is little doubt that concerns remain in Okinawa over the continued presence of the Marines and their plans to deploy the tilt-rotor Osprey.
"That alliance provides us with a great deal of support with the deployment we make to the Pacific," he said. He also noted that the U.S. has made progress in the past year in reaching agreements over the future of the Marine force in Okinawa. Despite the new agreement, some of the stickiest issues—such as moving the main military base to a more rural part of the island—remain unresolved.
Indonesia will try to rally Southeast Asian nations meeting at the United Nations this week behind a new attempt at talks with China to manage territorial disputes in the South China Sea. "We see this as a very serious problem and one that is demanding a solution by all of us,'' Foreign Minister Marty Natalegawa said Friday.
Indonesia's effort appears aimed primarily at restoring a semblance of unity among members of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations at a time when the Philippines, in particular, is seeking stronger backing from its partners. Indonesia has sought to revive long-stalled negotiations over a code of conduct to act as a framework for disputes pending a negotiated resolution.
Julian Barnes
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