US Missile Shield Threatens Balance in Asia-Pacific Region

SINGAPORE, June 1 (RIA Novosti) – The United States move to send a missile shield to the Pacific island of Guam could upset the strategic balance of power in the Asia-Pacific Region, a Russian defense official said on Saturday.

Speaking at the security conference Shangri-La Dialogue in Singapore, Russian Deputy Defense Minister Anatoly Antonov said: “We are concerned about the unilateral deployment of anti-ballistic missile defense elements [in the Asia-Pacific Region]. We believe such actions could undermine the foundation of the strategic balance and lead to a polarization of powers in the region.”

Antonov said “firm guarantees” were needed to prove that “the missile shield potential is adequate to the declared goals and will not upset global and regional balances.”

In April, the Pentagon said it was deploying a missile defense shield to the western Pacific island of Guam, a US territory, to protect the US and its allies in response to increasingly hostile rhetoric from North Korea.

The Russian defense official said Russia believes peace in the region should be based on a dialogue, cooperation and confidence, and warned against a military buildup.

“Russia calls for fulfilling the principle of integrity of security in the region when security of each country goes hand in hand with everyone’s security, when all the participating countries stop strengthening own security at the expense of the security of others,” he said.

RIA Novosti