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ULAANBAATAR (Reuters) - U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry said on Sunday the United States would consider any Chinese establishment of an air defense zone over the South China Sea to be a "provocative and destabilizing act". U.S. officials have expressed concern that an international court ruling expected in coming weeks on a case brought by the Philippines against China over its South China Sea claims could prompt Beijing to declare an air defense identification zone, or ADIZ, as it did over the East China Sea in 2013. "We would consider an ADIZ...over portions of the South China Sea as...

/begin my translationU.S. Mulls Stationing 2 Carriers in Japan Tokyo: Yonhap News05/05/05 As a part of reorganizing overseas deployments, U.S. military is considering the Sasebo naval base as the home port for two carriers which will be deployed in the Western Pacific, according to Tokyo Shimbun, quoting a U.S. military source in Japan today. The source also disclosed that U.S. military asked Japan to permit the use of Iwakuni base in Yamaguchi Perfecture as the living quarters for carrier-based aircraft crews.  U.S. government plans to deploy two aircraft carriers in the Western Pacific. Pearl Harbor has been the leading candidate, while U.S. have...

China demands Japan 'unconditionally' release activists The Chinese Foreign Ministry lodged a solemn representation Wednesday afternoon with Japan for illegally detaining seven Chinese citizens who landed on Diaoyu Island, a Chinese island in the East China Sea. Chinese Vice Foreign Minister Zhang Yesui Wednesday afternoon summoned Chikahito Harada, charge d'affaires of Japanese embassy in China, to lodge the representation. Zhang stated the stance of the Chinese government on the Diaoyu Island issue. He pointed out that Diaoyu Island and the attached islets have been a part of the Chinese territory since ancient times and China has indisputable sovereignty over these...