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US wants Japan to upgrade as China tests stealth fighter
Japan should buy a fleet of F-35 stealth jet fighters to boost its air force, the US Defence Secretary, Robert Gates, has said, a day after China unveiled its own version of the radar-dodging aircraft.
Mr Gates spoke after a three-day visit to Beijing, during which he was treated to the maiden flight of the Chinese J-20 and a view inside the country's nuclear missile command centre.
Mr Gates queried the timing of the display, but the Chinese government said it had not intended to stage a show of force for the US.
As Mr Gates ended his three-day visit to Beijing and flew to Japan, China's official Xinhua news agency quoted Chinese defence ministry officials as saying the test of the J-20 was unrelated to Mr Gates's visit.
On the website of China's Defence Ministry, a strongly worded essay urged the US to ''stop pointing fingers at the J-20'' and recognise instead that its own deployment of naval and air forces around China posed a greater threat to peace between the two powers.
Mr Gates had said at a news conference on Tuesday that he had received an assurance from the Chinese President, Hu Jintao, that the test was not timed for their meeting. Asked whether he believed that, Mr Gates said: ''I take President Hu at his word.''
Nevertheless, Mr Gates called on Japan, China's most powerful rival, to advance its military technology by buying Lockheed Martin's F-35 jet fighters.
''The Japanese government is considering the purchase of its next generation of the fighter aircraft,'' Mr Gates said in Beijing. ''That would give Japan the opportunity to have a fifth-generation capability.''
Japan has expressed an interest in buying the F-22 Raptor, a more expensive and advanced American stealth fighter, but it has been rebuffed by the US, which has placed an export ban on the plane.
The F-35 is also a stealth plane, but it has a larger radar profile.
The cost of the F-35 has risen to $96 million each. Tokyo is looking to buy about 40 fighter jets.
US wants Japan to upgrade fighters, China tests stealth jet
Japan should buy a fleet of F-35 stealth jet fighters to boost its air force, the US Defence Secretary, Robert Gates, has said, a day after China unveiled its own version of the radar-dodging aircraft.
Mr Gates spoke after a three-day visit to Beijing, during which he was treated to the maiden flight of the Chinese J-20 and a view inside the country's nuclear missile command centre.
Mr Gates queried the timing of the display, but the Chinese government said it had not intended to stage a show of force for the US.
As Mr Gates ended his three-day visit to Beijing and flew to Japan, China's official Xinhua news agency quoted Chinese defence ministry officials as saying the test of the J-20 was unrelated to Mr Gates's visit.
On the website of China's Defence Ministry, a strongly worded essay urged the US to ''stop pointing fingers at the J-20'' and recognise instead that its own deployment of naval and air forces around China posed a greater threat to peace between the two powers.
Mr Gates had said at a news conference on Tuesday that he had received an assurance from the Chinese President, Hu Jintao, that the test was not timed for their meeting. Asked whether he believed that, Mr Gates said: ''I take President Hu at his word.''
Nevertheless, Mr Gates called on Japan, China's most powerful rival, to advance its military technology by buying Lockheed Martin's F-35 jet fighters.
''The Japanese government is considering the purchase of its next generation of the fighter aircraft,'' Mr Gates said in Beijing. ''That would give Japan the opportunity to have a fifth-generation capability.''
Japan has expressed an interest in buying the F-22 Raptor, a more expensive and advanced American stealth fighter, but it has been rebuffed by the US, which has placed an export ban on the plane.
The F-35 is also a stealth plane, but it has a larger radar profile.
The cost of the F-35 has risen to $96 million each. Tokyo is looking to buy about 40 fighter jets.
US wants Japan to upgrade fighters, China tests stealth jet
