Tag Archives: Jim Mattis

Mattis praises China’s efforts on North Korea, dials up pressure on South China Sea

U.S. Secretary of Defense James Mattis speaks at the 16th IISS Shangri-La Dialogue in Singapore June 3, 2017. REUTERS/Edgar Su

By Idrees Ali and Lee Chyen Yee

SINGAPORE (Reuters) – The United States is encouraged by China’s efforts to restrain North Korea but Washington will not accept Beijing’s militarization of islands in the South China Sea, U.S. Defense Secretary Jim Mattis said on Saturday.

The comments by Mattis, during the annual Shangri-La Dialogue, show how U.S. President Donald Trump’s administration is looking to balance working with China to restrain North Korea’s advancing missile and nuclear programs while dealing with Beijing’s activities in the South China Sea.

U.S. allies have been worried by Trump’s actively courting Chinese President Xi Jinping to restrain North Korea, fearing Washington might allow China a more free rein elsewhere in the region.

Some allies have also expressed concern that Washington’s withdrawal from the Trans-Pacific trade partnership and the Paris global climate accord signals the United States is diluting its global leadership role.

Speaking at the dialogue, Asia’s premier security forum, Mattis said the United States remained fully engaged with its partners.

“Like it or not, we are a part of the world…What a crummy world if we all retreat inside our borders,” he said.

“Once we have exhausted all possible alternatives, the Americans will do the right thing,” Mattis added, paraphrasing a quotation by British wartime leader Winston Churchill. “So we will still be there and we will be there with you.”

Nevertheless, reversing or slowing North Korea’s nuclear and missile programs has become a security priority for Washington, given Pyongyang’s vow to develop a nuclear-tipped missile capable of hitting the U.S. mainland.

The Trump administration has been pressing China aggressively to rein in its reclusive neighbor, warning all options are on the table if North Korea persists with its weapons programs.

“The Trump administration is encouraged by China’s renewed commitment to work with the international community toward denuclearization,” Mattis said.

“Ultimately, we believe China will come to recognize North Korea as a strategic liability, not an asset.”

However, Mattis said seeking China’s cooperation on North Korea did not mean Washington would not challenge Beijing’s activities in the South China Sea.

The U.N. Security Council on Friday expanded targeted sanctions against North Korea after its repeated missile tests, adopting the first such resolution agreed by the United States and China since Trump took office.

In another sign of increased pressure on North Korea, Japan’s navy and air force began a three-day military exercise with two U.S. aircraft carriers in the Sea of Japan on Thursday.

Japanese Defense Minister Tomomi Inada, speaking at the Singapore forum, said Tokyo backed the United States using any option to deal with North Korea, including military strikes, and was seeking a deeper alliance with Washington.

But she also said she was concerned about the situation in the South China Sea and in the East China Sea.

China’s claims in the South China Sea, through which about $5 trillion in ship-borne trade passes each year, are contested by Brunei, Malaysia, the Philippines, Taiwan and Vietnam. China and Japan both claim islands in the East China Sea.

LOW-KEY

China, which sent only a low-key delegation to the forum,

said its ties with the United States were vital for the region.

“I believe that if China and the United States can ensure no conflict, as well as maintain mutual respect, cooperation and trust, it will contribute greatly to security in the Asia Pacific and the world,” Lt Gen He Lei, the head of Beijing’s delegation, told reporters.

Allies around the world have been concerned about the commitment of the United States since Trump took office on Jan. 20 because of his “America First” rhetoric and expectations that he would concentrate on a domestic agenda.

“We are still trying to figure out his (Trump’s) policy in our region,” said Malaysian Defense Minister Hishammuddin Hussein. “I would like to know very clearly what are the true intentions of the new administration.”

Mattis sought to ease concerns for allies in the Asia-Pacific, saying the region was a priority and the primary effort was alliance building. He added, however, that countries must “contribute sufficiently to their own security.”

In a sign of the U.S. commitment to the region, Mattis said that soon about 60 percent of overseas tactical aviation assets would be assigned to the region and he would work with the U.S. Congress on an Asia-Pacific stability initiative.

Mattis said the United States welcomed China’s economic development, but he anticipated “friction” between the two countries.

“While competition between the U.S. and China, the world’s two largest economies, is bound to occur, conflict is not inevitable,” Mattis said.

While eager to work with China in dealing with North Korea, Mattis said the United States did not accept China placing weapons and other military assets on man-made islands in the South China Sea.

“We oppose countries militarizing artificial islands and enforcing excessive maritime claims,” Mattis said. “We cannot and will not accept unilateral, coercive changes to the status quo.”

(Additional reporting by Kanupriya Kapoor, Masayuki Kitano and Greg Torode; Editing by Raju Gopalakrishnan and Lincoln Feast)

North Korea fires Scud-class ballistic missile, Japan protests

People watch a television broadcasting a news report on North Korea firing what appeared to be a short-range ballistic missile, at a railway station in Seoul, South Korea,

By Jack Kim and Ju-min Park

SEOUL (Reuters) – North Korea fired at least one short-range ballistic missile on Monday that landed in the sea off its east coast, the latest in a fast-paced series of missile tests defying world pressure and threats of more sanctions.

The missile was believed to be a Scud-class ballistic missile and flew about 450 km (280 miles), South Korean officials said. North Korea has a large stockpile of the short-range missiles, originally developed by the Soviet Union.

Monday’s launch followed two successful tests of medium-to-long-range missiles in as many weeks by the North, which has been conducting such tests at an unprecedented pace in an effort to develop an intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) capable of hitting the mainland United States.

North Korea was likely showing its determination to push ahead in the face of international pressure to rein in its missile program and “to pressure the (South Korean) government to change its policy on the North,” South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff spokesman Roh Jae-cheon said.

It was the third ballistic missile test launch since South Korea’s liberal President Moon Jae-in took office on May 10 pledging to engage with the reclusive neighbor in dialogue.

Moon says sanctions alone have failed to resolve the growing threat from the North’s advancing nuclear and missile program.

Japan's Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga attends a news conference after the launch of a North Korean missile at Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's official residence in Tokyo, Japan

Japan’s Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga attends a news conference after the launch of a North Korean missile at Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s official residence in Tokyo, Japan May 29, 2017. REUTERS/Toru Hanai

The missile reached an altitude of 120 km (75 miles), Roh said.
“The assessment is there was at least one missile but we are analyzing the number of missiles,” he said.

North Korea, which has conducted dozens of missile tests and tested two nuclear bombs since the beginning of 2016 in defiance of U.N. Security Council resolutions, says the program is necessary to counter U.S. aggression.

The White House said President Donald Trump had been briefed about the launch. The U.S. Pacific Command said it tracked what appeared to be a short-range ballistic missile for six minutes and assessed it did not pose a threat to North America.

The United States has said it was looking at discussing with China a new U.N. Security Council resolution and that Beijing, North Korea’s main diplomatic ally and neighbor, realizes time was limited to rein in its weapons program through negotiations. [nL4N1IS196]

Trump portrayed the missile test as an affront to China in a morning post on Twitter. “North Korea has shown great disrespect for their neighbor, China, by shooting off yet another ballistic missile…but China is trying hard!” he wrote.

U.S. Defense Secretary Jim Mattis, asked what a military conflict with North Korea might look like if diplomacy failed, warned on Sunday it would be “probably the worst kind of fighting in most people’s lifetimes”.

“The North Korean regime has hundreds of artillery cannons and rocket launchers within range of one of the most densely populated cities on Earth, which is the capital of South Korea,” Mattis told CBS news program “Face the Nation”.

“And in the event of war, they would bring danger to China and to Russia as well,” he said.

TESTING NEW CAPABILITIES

China reiterated that U.N. Security Council resolutions had “clear rules” about North Korean missile activities and it urged Pyongyang not to contravene them.

“The situation on the Korean peninsula is complex and sensitive, and we hope all relevant sides maintain calm and exercise restraint, ease the tense situation as soon as possible and put the issue back onto the correct track of peaceful dialogue,” China’s foreign ministry said in a statement.

Russia condemned the launch and also called for restraint, “including toward military activity,” from the partners it was working with, the RIA news agency quoted a deputy Russian foreign minister as saying.

Japan lodged a protest against the test missile, which appeared to have landed in its exclusive economic zone.

Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe vowed action along with other nations to deter Pyongyang’s repeated provocations.

“As we agreed at the recent G7, the issue of North Korea is a top priority for the international community,” Abe told reporters in brief televised remarks. “Working with the United States, we will take specific action to deter North Korea.”

Seoul’s new liberal administration has said Pyongyang’s repeated test launches were dashing hopes for peace.

South Korea’s Moon called a meeting of the National Security Council, South Korea’s Office of the Joint Chiefs of Staff said in a statement.

North Korea last test-fired a ballistic missile on May 21 off its east coast and said on Sunday it had tested a new anti-aircraft weapon supervised by leader Kim Jong Un. [nL3N1IU014]

It has tested Scud-type short-range missiles many times in the past, most recently in April, according to U.S. officials. However, experts say it may be trying to test new capabilities that may be fed into its efforts to build an ICBM.

“There are many possibilities … It could have been a test for a different type of engine. Or to verify the credibility of the main engine for ICBM’s first stage rocket,” said Kim Dong-yub, a military expert at Kyungnam University’s Far Eastern Studies department in Seoul.

Modified versions of the Scud have a range of up to 1,000 km (620 miles).

On Tuesday, the United States will test an existing missile defense system to try to intercept an ICBM, the first such test, officials said last week.

(Additional reporting by Doina Chiacu Matt Spetalnick in WASHINGTON, Ben Blanchard in BEIJING, William Mallard in TOKYO, Soyoung Kim and Christine Kim in SEOUL, and

U.S.: Military solution to North Korea would be ‘tragic on an unbelievable scale’

U.S. Defense Secretary James Mattis gestures during a press briefing on the campaign to defeat ISIS at the Pentagon in Washington, U.S., May 19, 2017. REUTERS/Yuri Gripas

By Phil Stewart and David Brunnstrom

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – U.S. Defense Secretary Jim Mattis said on Friday that any military solution to the North Korea crisis would be “tragic on an unbelievable scale” and Washington was working internationally to find a diplomatic solution.

North Korea has defied all calls to rein in its nuclear and missile programs, even from China, its lone major ally, calling them legitimate self-defense.

It has been working to develop a nuclear-tipped missile capable of striking the U.S. mainland, and experts say its test on Sunday of a new missile was another important step toward that aim.

“We are going to continue to work the issue,” Mattis told a Pentagon news conference.

“If this goes to a military solution, it’s going to be tragic on an unbelievable scale. So our effort is to work with the U.N., work with China, work with Japan, work with South Korea to try to find a way out of this situation.”

The remarks were one of the clearest indicators yet that President Donald Trump’s administration will seek to exhaust alternatives before turning to military action to force Pyongyang’s hand.

The United States, which has 28,500 troops in South Korea to guard against the North Korean threat, has called on China to do more to rein in its neighbor.

Mattis appeared to defend China’s most recent efforts, even as he acknowledged Pyongyang’s march forward.

“They (North Korea) clearly aren’t listening but there appears to be some impact by the Chinese working here. It’s not obviously perfect when they launch a missile,” Mattis said, when asked about Sunday’s launch.

RE-ENTRY CAPABILITY?

South Korea has said the North’s missile program was progressing faster than expected, with Sunday’s test considered successful in flight.

North Korea said the launch tested the capability to carry a “large-size heavy nuclear warhead,” and its ambassador in Beijing has said that Pyongyang would continue such test launches “any time, any place.”

Mattis acknowledged that Pyongyang had likely learned a great deal from the latest test of what U.S. officials say was a KN-17 missile, which was believed to have survived re-entry to some degree.

“They went to a very high apogee and when it came down obviously from that altitude they probably learned a lot from it. But I’m not willing to characterize it beyond that right now,” Mattis said.

David Wright, co-director and senior scientist at the Global Security Program at the Union of Concerned Scientists, the big question was whether North Korea could build a re-entry vehicle for a long-range missile that wouldn’t burn up during re-entry and could keep a warhead from becoming too hot in the process.

“This test in principle gave them a lot of information about this, assuming they had sensors that could send information back during reentry so they could monitor the heat, or they could recover the reentry vehicle and examine it,” he said.

(Additional reporting by Matt Spetalnick; Editing by Jonathan Oatis and Cynthia Osterman)

U.S. defense secretary says Syria dispersed warplanes, retains chemical weapons

Israel's President Reuven Rivlin (R) welcomes U.S. Defense Secretary James Mattis in Jerusalem April 21, 2017. REUTERS/Jonathan Ernst

By Idrees Ali

TEL AVIV (Reuters) – U.S. Defense Secretary Jim Mattis said on Friday that Syria had dispersed its warplanes in recent days and that it retained chemical weapons, an issue he said would have to be taken up diplomatically.

The United States launched dozens of missiles earlier this month against a Syrian air base in response to a chemical attack that killed 90 people, including 30 children. It says the Syrian government launched the attack from the Shayrat air base.

The Pentagon has said that the strike had damaged or destroyed about 20 percent of the Syrian military’s operational aircraft.

During a press conference alongside his Israeli counterpart, Mattis was asked whether the Syrian military had moved warplanes to a Russian base in Latakia.

“They have dispersed their aircraft, no doubt. They have dispersed their aircraft in recent days,” Mattis said.

Mattis also reiterated that the United States believed Syria had retained some chemical weapons.

“The bottom line is, I can say authoritatively they have retained some (chemical weapons). It’s a violation of the United Nations Security Council resolutions, and it’s going to have to be taken up diplomatically,” Mattis said.

Israel’s military said on Wednesday it believes Syrian President Bashar al-Assad’s forces still possess several tonnes of chemical weapons.

A senior Israeli military officer told Israeli reporters that “a few tonnes of chemical weapons” remained in the hands of Assad’s forces, a military official told Reuters.

In a 2013 agreement brokered by Russia and the United States, Syria agreed to destroy its chemical weapons.

The Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical weapons, a global watchdog, said sarin or a similar banned toxin was used in the April 4 strike in Syria’s Idlib province.

Mattis later met Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in Jerusalem. Before the start of their talks, Netanyahu said he was optimistic about relations between the two countries under the new U.S. administration.

The two countries are working to set a more positive tone after eight years of friction under President Donald Trump’s Democratic predecessor, Barack Obama.

(Reporting by Idrees Ali; Editing by Gareth Jones and Richard Lough)