Moscow and Beijing said Japan must rethink its decision to allow even a temporary deployment of a US intermediate-range missile system.
Published On 30 Aug 2025
Russia and China have separately warned Japan over its decision to allow the United States to deploy “Typhon” intermediate-range missiles during joint military exercises in Japan next month, calling the move a threat to regional stability.
“We view this as another destabilising step as part of Washington’s course toward ramping up the potential of ground-based shorter and intermediate-range missiles,” Russia’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said on Friday.
Deploying Typhon missiles “in regions near Russia poses a direct strategic threat to Russia”, Zakharova said in comments published by the country’s state-run TASS news agency.
Moscow has also taken note of Japan’s moves towards “accelerated militarisation” and cooperation with the US, the spokeswoman said.
If Japan does not rethink its decision on the Typhon’s deployment, Russia “will have to take appropriate military-technical measures”, she said.
“We will assume that the entire responsibility for the further degradation of the situation in the region rests on the Japanese side,” she added.
Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokesperson Guo Jiakun said on Friday that the US and Japan should contribute to regional peace and stability and not undermine it with the deployment of medium-range missiles, even if only temporarily.
“China always opposes the United States deploying the Typhon Mid-Range Capability missile system in Asian countries,” Guo said, according to the state-run Xinhua news agency.
“We urge Japan to take a hard look at its history of aggression, follow the path of peaceful development, act prudently in military and security areas, and refrain from further losing the trust of its Asian neighbours and the international community,” he said.
Guo said China also called on Washington to “draw lessons from history and devote more effort and resources to doing the right thing rather than the other way around”.
The Reuters news agency reports that the Typhon system is part of a drive by Washington to amass a variety of antiship weapons in Asia.
That move already led to an earlier rebuke from China when the missiles were first deployed in the Philippines during a training exercise in 2024.
Manila has since announced plans to buy the land-based US missile system, which has a range of some 480km (300 miles), though a longer-range version is currently being developed.
A spokesperson for Japan’s Ground Self-Defence Force told Reuters the Typhon would be deployed to the US Marine Air Station in Iwakuni city, on Honshu island, some 890km (553 miles) west of Tokyo.
It was unclear if Typhon missiles would be fired as part of the “Resolute Dragon” exercises between US and Japanese forces that run from September 11 to 25.
