torsdag 12. januar 2023

Attack from space would trigger collective defence, say US and Japan, amid China fears

The US and Japan have said that an attack in space would trigger their security treaty, as senior officials from both countries warned that Chinarepresents the “greatest strategic challenge” to regional security. “We agree that [China] is the greatest shared strategic challenge that we, our allies and partners face,” the US secretary of state, Antony Blinken, said on Thursday after meeting his Japanese counterpart, Yoshimasa Hayashi, in Washington.

US and Japanese defence chiefs agreed that attacks “to, from and within” space could invoke article five of their security treaty, which states that an attack on one of the allies is an attack on both.The US also strongly endorsed Japan’s plans to significantly strengthen its defences, including the ability to attack enemy bases if it believes an attack is imminent – a move some have criticised as a violationof the “pacifist” principles set out in its postwar constitution.