The head of the U.S. Pacific Command has visited for the first time a key Ground Self-Defense Force listening post just 150 km (90 miles) south of the Senkaku Islands in the East China Sea.
Adm. Harry Harris was accompanied by Self-Defense Forces Chief of Staff, Joint Staff, Adm. Katsutoshi Kawano on the visit Wednesday to the radar station on Okinawa's tiny Yonaguni Island, the Pacific Command and the Japanese Defense Ministry said in statements.
The visit to Yonaguni was also a first for Kawano.