US Vice-President Joe Biden will fly to East Asia, amid high tensions in the region over China's newly-declared air defence identification zone, to hold talks in Tokyo, Beijing and Seoul during his six-day visit.
He will on Friday pay a visit to the demilitarised zone which divides the two Koreas, but the air zone row is likely to dominate the week.
Both the US and Japan have voiced strong criticism of China's establishment of an ADIZ that includes islands claimed and controlled by Japan. It also includes a submerged rock claimed by South Korea.
China says aircraft operating within its ADIZ must follow certain rules such as filing flight plans, or face "defensive emergency measures".
US, Japanese and South Korean military aircraft have all defied these rules and Japanese commercial carriers have agreed to a government request not to comply.
On Friday, China scrambled fighter jets to monitor US and Japanese planes flying in the area.
Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said on Sunday that he expected to discuss the ADIZ issue with Mr Biden.