Washington/Tokyo/Canberra, March 16 -- Two key allies of the US, Japan and Australia, have indicated on Monday that they may not be willing to deploy naval ships to patrol the contested straits of Hormuz, after US President Donald Trump revealed that the USA is talking with seven nations dependent on Gulf oil to assist in protecting shipping in the narrow but strategic sea corridor.
Speaking to reporters aboard Air Force One, Trump said on Sunday that several governments had been approached to help safeguard commercial vessels passing through the narrow waterway.
Trump, however, did not name the countries, though on Saturday in a social media post he had said that he hopes countries like "China, Japan, South Korea and the UK and others th...