U.S. faces uphill battle to place ground-based missiles in Asia

Treaty allies Japan, Australia, Philippines will likely say no, RAND says

Japan Ground Self-Defense Force's Type 12 surface-to-ship missile, created by Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, is scheduled to extend its range to 900 km from the current 200 km. (Photo courtesy of JGSDF)

KEN MORIYASU, Nikkei Asia diplomatic correspondent

June 1, 2022 12:12 JST

TOKYO -- None of the U.S.'s five treaty allies in Asia -- Japan, South Korea, Australia, Thailand and the Philippines -- are likely to agree to host American ground-based intermediate-range missiles, a new RAND Corp. report has found.

Such missiles are considered central to Washington's strategy to pierce Chinese defenses, should it one day have to defend Taiwan from a Chinese invasion.