US, Japan to set up missile facility amid China aggression

The United States and Japan have agreed to establish a Japanese facility for the joint production of advanced medium-range air-to-air missiles, the Japanese defence chief said late Wednesday.

It is the latest move by the allies, which have repeatedly expressed alarm over China’s growing aggression in Asia. Japanese Defence Minister Shinjiro Koizumi made the announcement in a news conference Wednesday night in the central province of Cebu, where he met US Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth on the sidelines of an annual meeting of Southeast Asian defence chiefs and their major Asian and Western counterparts.

The annual meetings aim to avert a major regional conflict and strengthen defence cooperation. On the sidelines of the meetings, however, the US and China and their allies have often traded criticisms.