US, Chinese defense chiefs hold first meeting since patrol

KUALA LUMPUR -- U.S. Defense Secretary Ashton Carter spoke with Chinese counterpart Chang Wanquan for 40 minutes Tuesday on the sidelines of a meeting of defense ministers from ASEAN and its dialogue partners.

     The talks were the first at the cabinet level between Washington and Beijing since an American destroyer sailed in late October near islands built by China in the South China Sea. Carter and Chang likely remained at odds over the principle of freedom of navigation espoused by the U.S. while agreeing on the importance of dialogue to avoid unanticipated situations. Cyberattacks also came up in the meeting.

     Carter apparently pushed for Beijing to stop militarizing the artificial islands. He reportedly held that the warship's passage near the islands was a routine activity based on freedom of navigation enshrined in international law and informed Chang that the patrols will continue.

     Chang responded that "we need to do things that help us defend our sovereign territory and I need to be very clear to you that there is a bottom line to this," according to a high-level U.S. defense official quoted by Reuters.

     Before the talks, Carter spoke for about an hour with Japanese Defense Minister Gen Nakatani. The two affirmed their opposition to efforts to alter the status quo by force. Dialogue with Beijing is also important, Carter said.

     Nakatani expressed support for the U.S. patrols. He and Carter agreed to hold joint military exercises in the South China Sea and elsewhere as well as enhance cooperation with Association of Southeast Asian Nations members on maritime security.

     The Japanese minister explained recently enacted legislation expanding his country's defense powers and expressed hope of further strengthening the power of the bilateral alliance as a deterrent. Carter welcomed the new legislation. In conjunction with the meeting, Tokyo and Washington set up panels to coordinate Self-Defense Forces and American military operations in peacetime as well as emergencies.

     Carter and Nakatani agreed that a contentious plan to move the U.S. Marine Corps' Futenma air station to Henoko in the Okinawan city of Nago is the only solution to the problem. Nakatani said Japan has made every effort to relocate the base as soon as possible and stressed the importance of easing the burden on Okinawa residents through such steps as moving Marines to Guam or holding drills outside the prefecture.

     The Japanese minister asked Carter to minimize the impact of American military activities on nearby residents and think about their safety. Safety will always be taken into consideration to the greatest extent possible, Carter said.

     The two officials will try to reach an agreement soon on Japanese financial support from fiscal 2016 on for U.S. troops stationed in the country.