Washington wants to quickly deploy new missiles in Asia, to counter the rise of China in the region, new US Defense Secretary Mark Esper said Saturday.

"Yes I would like to," Esper said when asked if the US was considering deploying new medium-range conventional weapons in Asia now that Washington is no longer bound by the INF treaty.

"We would like to deploy a capability sooner rather than later," Esper told reporters on a plane to Sydney at the start of a week-long tour of Asia. "I would prefer months ... But these things tend to take longer than you expect."

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