'Washington announced plans last spring to expand its missile defence shield and install its components not only in Europe, but also in Asia and the Middle East. US Assistant Secretary of Defence for Global Strategic Issues Madelyn Creedon said at the time that locations in Australia, Japan, and South Korea could be selected. It was also reported in August that missile defence components – early warning radars – would appear in Japan and the Philippines.

Observers haven’t ruled out the possibility that Russia and China could join efforts to resolve the American missile defence problem. “China has significantly intensified cooperation with Russia in terms of resisting the deployment of the American missile defence system. The deployment of missile defenses in the region will be met with rather stiff resistance from China, which will be expressed in diplomatic demarches and will also take some kind of practical form,” Captain Konstantin Sivkov, Vice President of the Academy of Geopolitical Problems.'

Read more: Russia, China Join Hands Against America’s Global 'Missile Defense' Plan