Hagel warns China over Crimea-style action

Pentagon chief Chuck Hagel yesterday warned China against unilateral action to resolve territorial disputes with its neighbours, drawing a parallel with Russia's incursion in Ukraine as he announced two more warships would be sent to Japan.
Seeking to reassure Washington's longtime ally Japan, Hagel's remarks and promise of more missile defence ships came as Tokyo faces a tense row with Beijing over islands in the East China Sea.
"All nations deserve respect, no matter how large or how small," Hagel said during a visit to Tokyo.
"I think we're seeing some clear evidence of a lack of respect, and coercion and intimidation with ... what the Russians have done in Ukraine," he told a news conference with his Japanese counterpart, Itsunori Onodera.
Countries had to speak up and reject such a blatant violation of international law, said Hagel, referring to Russia's annexation of Ukraine's Crimean peninsula.
And in a veiled reference to China and its territorial arguments with Asian neighbours, Hagel said smaller countries had the same sovereign rights as larger states.
"You cannot go around and redefine boundaries, violate territorial integrity and sovereignty of nations by force, coercion and intimidation -- whether it's in small islands in the Pacific, or large nations in Europe," Hagel said.
"So I want to talk to our Chinese friends about this," said the defence secretary, who departs for Beijing today.
His comments underscored a tougher line by the US government on China's approach to territorial claims in the South China Sea and the East China Sea, after some Southeast Asian countries accused Beijing of intimidatory tactics.
In Tokyo, Hagel unveiled plans to send two more Aegis missile defence warships to Japan by 2017, citing "Pyongyang's pattern of provocative and destabilising actions."
The US ships would join five missile defence vessels already stationed in the area, and were part of an American strategic "rebalance" to the Asia-Pacific, officials said.
Although Hagel said the US ships were being sent to help counter the threat posed by North Korea, the move also carried symbolic weight amid Japan's tense stand-off with China over islets in the East China Sea.
Hagel reiterated that Washington stood by its mutual defence treaty with Japan, saying it applied to the disputed islands in the East China Sea, where Beijing and Tokyo are locked in a bitter argument.