Pentagon chief Chuck Hagel will travel to China and Japan next week after hosting a meeting of Asian defense ministers in Hawaii, amid tensions between Beijing and Tokyo over a disputed island chain

Pentagon chief Chuck Hagel will travel to China and Japan next week after hosting a meeting of Asian defense ministers in Hawaii, amid tensions between Beijing and Tokyo over a disputed island chain.
  
The US military has sought improved relations with its Chinese counterpart, arguing that stronger links will help avoid dangerous misunderstandings. Beijing has made broad territorial claims in the South China Sea and East China Sea that are not recognized by Washington and its regional allies, including Japan.
  
Tokyo administers an island chain, known as Senkaku in Japanese and Diaoyu in Chinese, which is claimed by Beijing, which sometimes sends ships or aircraft to underline its position. Washington has appealed to both sides for restraint.
  
The gathering of defense ministers from the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) in Honolulu on April 1 to 3 will mark the first time the group has met in the United States.
  
Hagel has made relations with ASEAN defense chiefs a priority and the meeting -- along with his subsequent tour of Asia -- underscored Washington's strategic pivot to the Pacific region, Pentagon spokesman Rear Admiral John Kirby told reporters on Thursday.
  
Hagel's trip to Asia, his fourth in less than a year, offers "further evidence of the secretary's personal commitment to the president's rebalance to the Asia-Pacific region," Kirby said.

After the ASEAN session in Hawaii, Hagel will fly to Tokyo six months after launching a review of the US-Japan military alliance. The visit to Tokyo follows a landmark summit this week between President Barack Obama, Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and South Korean President Park Geun-Hye in The Hague.