US and Japanese defence chiefs spoke on the phone on Friday about the recent confrontation between Chinese and Japan Self-Defence Force fighter jets, as Tokyo said it did not seek to escalate the tensions.
During the call, Japan’s defence minister Shinjiro Koizumi and his US counterpart Pete Hegseth engaged in a “candid exchange” of views on the “rapidly deteriorating” security situation in the Indo-Pacific region, according to a Japanese defence ministry release.
“The two sides stated serious…