Japan tells Russia no threat from missile shield

Japan's foreign minister told Russia yesterday that Tokyo would not back down on a missile shield it is building with the United States and assured him that Moscow was not the target.
"Japan's missile defences are aimed only at protecting the country with a shield. It's not a means to attack other countries," Masahiko Komura told a joint news conference with his Russian counterpart Sergei Lavrov.
"This is a policy suited to Japan, whose priority is self-defence," he said. "Japan will continue this policy in cooperation with the United States."
"And I would like to add that this policy is not in the least assuming a possible future attack from Russia."
Lavrov, speaking ahead of his one-day visit, had accused Washington and Tokyo of seeking "military superiority" through missile defences in Japan.
Washington and Tokyo started building the missile shield in 1998 after North Korea fired a missile over Japan's main island into the Pacific Ocean.
Japan, which has been officially pacifist since World War II, is protected by the United States under a security treaty.