Sunday’s Nikkei led with an interview with Special Presidential Envoy for Arms Control Marshall Billingslea, who projected that the U.S. will hold talks with its Asian allies about deploying intermediate range missiles now under development to counter China’s rapid arms expansion. The official, who is a nominee for the post of under secretary of state for international security, reportedly called the ground-based, medium-range cruise missile that the U.S. is currently developing “exactly the kind of defensive capability that countries such as Japan will want and will need for the future.” He expressed hope for engaging in talks with Asian partners on the “immediate threat” that the Chinese nuclear buildup poses and the “kinds of capabilities that we will need to defend the alliance in the future.” As for Japan’s desire to acquire capabilities to neutralize enemy missiles, the U.S. official reportedly said such capabilities “would be of value.” The paper added Billingslea is a known hawk toward China.