U.S., Japan to study missile defense with Australia

Source: Reuters

U.S., Japan to study missile defense with Australia

By Teruaki Ueno
Tue May 22, 2:11 AM ET

TOKYO (Reuters) - The United States and Japan plan to study a joint
missile defense system with Australia that would boost their security
role in the Asia-Pacific region, a Japanese government source said on
Tuesday.

Tokyo and Washington have already been working on a defense shield
to ward off potential threats from North Korea, and the government
official said the new plan also envisaged a possible firing of Chinese
missiles over Australia and Guam.

A basic agreement to jointly study the missile defense system was
reached in April when government officials from Japan, the United
States and Australia met in Tokyo, the source said.

"The basic tenet of the plan is to step up cooperation between the
three countries in the field of security in the Asia-Pacific region,"
the source, who declined to be identified, told Reuters.

-snip-

Read more: http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20070522/ts_nm/japan_missile_australia_dc