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President Says Will Protect Disputed Islands Discusses More Sanctions On Russia – Video

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President Says Will Protect Disputed Islands Discusses More Sanctions On Russia
U.S. President Barack Obama said on Thursday(April 24) that the United States would defend a group of islands disputed between Japan and China if needed and threatened more sanctions on Russia,...

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President Says Will Protect Disputed Islands Discusses More Sanctions On Russia - Video

Obama Says U.S. Will Defend Japan-Administered Islands

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President Barack Obama warned China the U.S. would protect East China Sea islands administered by Japan and urged the two countries to peacefully resolve a territorial dispute that has raised tensions across Asia.

Obama, speaking today after a meeting in Tokyo with Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, said that a security treaty between the U.S. and Japan covers all territory that is administered by Japan. The commitment to defend the area is longstanding and he was not drawing a new red line with China over the issue, Obama said.

Chinas assertiveness in its territorial claims is adding pressure on Obama to demonstrate a commitment to defend allies in Asia at a time when Russias push into Ukraine has raised questions about U.S. resolve. No country should feel emboldened by actions such as Russias annexation last month of Crimea, Obama said.

The alternative is a situation in which large countries like the United States or China, or Russia, or other countries feel as if whenever they think its expedient, they can take actions that disadvantage smaller countries, Obama told reporters at a joint briefing with Abe.

Obama met Abe on the first day of a four-nation Asian swing that will also take him to South Korea, Malaysia and the Philippines. Talks will focus on promoting pending free-trade agreements and addressing regional security matters such as North Koreas nuclear weapons program and Chinas efforts to assert its claims to much of the East and South China seas.

Standing next to Abe, Obama reiterated that the U.S. views Japan as the sole administrator of the disputed islands, which the president referred to by their Japanese name, Senkaku. China has challenged Japans control of the uninhabited islands, called Diaoyu in Chinese, through the positioning of ships and flying of surveillance aircraft.

It is significant that Obama has become the first president to say categorically that the U.S.-Japan security treaty applies to all Japanese-held territories -- including the disputed islands, said Tina Burrett, assistant professor of politics at Sophia University in Tokyo. However, the fact that Obama had to say this highlights the lack of confidence in the alliance felt by some on the Japanese side.

China opposes the islands being included in the security agreement between Japan and the U.S., Foreign Ministry spokesman Qin Gang said in Beijing today.

No matter what others say or do, they cant change the fact that Diaoyu has been under Chinas sovereignty, and it wont shake the Chinese governments determination and will to protect its sovereignty and marine interests, Qin said.

In November, China declared an air defense identification zone over a large part of the East China Sea. Japan has ignored Chinas demands that it file flight plans before sending planes through the zone, while aircraft and ships from the two countries regularly tail each other around the islands. Japan on April 19 broke ground on a new radar base on its westernmost island to improve surveillance in the area.

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Obama Says U.S. Will Defend Japan-Administered Islands

Obama backs Japan in islands row

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Tokyo (CNN) -- The United States stands by its security agreement with Japan in its dispute with China over a group of islands, President Barack Obama said Thursday.

The securities agreement between Washington and Tokyo is decades old, he told reporters in the Japanese capital. And it would be honored in any conflict arising out of tensions over the islands that Japan calls Senkaku and China calls Diaoyu.

But the President, who spoke alongside Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, would not say how the United States would get involved in any strife over the islands.

The group of islands and rocks jutting out of the ocean is tiny and uninhabited. But the long-standing dispute over them has sent tempers flaring in Beijing and Tokyo, especially in recent years.

The area around them in the South China Sea between Taiwan and Okinawa is believed to be rich in oil resources.

Senkaku is administered by the Japanese, but the Chinese claim they are the rightful owners.

The possibility of a war over the islands has been a thorn in the side of the United States, which says it is obligated by the common security agreement to back Japan.

Preaching dialogue

Obama repeatedly urged that Japan and China to seek a peaceful resolution through dialogue.

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Obama backs Japan in islands row

Obama: US-Japan treaty applies to disputed islands

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TOKYO (AP) President Barack Obama confirmed Wednesday that America's mutual security treaty with Japan applies to the islands at the center of a territorial dispute between China and Japan.

"The policy of the United States is clear," he said in a written response to questions published in Japan's Yomiuri newspaper before his arrival in Tokyo at the start of a four-country Asia tour.

"The Senkaku islands are administered by Japan" and therefore fall under the U.S.-Japan treaty, he wrote. "And we oppose any unilateral attempts to undermine Japan's administration of these islands."

His statement seems aimed at reassuring Japan that the U.S. would come to its defense if China were to seize the islands, known as Diayou in China. Russia's annexation of Crimea has sparked concern about America's political will to protect Asian allies, notably in Japan and the Philippines.

A Chinese government spokesman responded that China has "indisputable sovereignty" over the islands, and said "the so-called Japan-U.S. alliance" should not harm China's territorial rights.

"We firmly oppose applying the Japan-U.S. security treaty in the issue of the Diaoyu islands," Foreign Ministry spokesman Qin Gang said at a regular briefing. "The U.S. should respect facts, take a responsible attitude, remain committed to not taking sides on territory and sovereignty issues, speak and act cautiously, and earnestly play a constructive role in regional peace and stability."

Obama told the Yomiuri the United States is deepening its ties with China, but "our engagement with China does not and will not come at the expense of Japan or any other ally."

He said the U.S. will continue to take steps to reduce the impact of its military presence in Okinawa, but added, "it's important to remember that the U.S. Marine Corps presence on Okinawa is absolutely critical to our mutual security. It plays a key role in the defense of Japan."

Associated Press news assistant Zhao Liang in Beijing contributed to this report.

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Obama: US-Japan treaty applies to disputed islands

Disputed islands part of US-Japan alliance: Obama

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Tension: a Japanese coast guard vessel shadowing a Chinese surveillance ship last year near the disputed islands known as Senkaku in Japan and Diaoyu in China. Photo: AP

Tokyo: Islands at the centre of a row between Tokyo and Beijing are covered by the US-Japan defence alliance, Barack Obama told a newspaper ahead of his arrival in Tokyo.

Mr Obama, on a tour of Asia that will also take in South Korea, the Philippines and Malaysia, is the first sitting US president to explicitly affirm that hostile action against the island chain would spark an American reaction.

"The policy of the United States is clear - the Senkaku Islands are administered by Japan and therefore fall within the scope of Article 5 of the US-Japan Treaty of Mutual Cooperation and Security," Mr Obama said in a written interview with Japan's Yomiuri Shimbun newspaper.

"We oppose any unilateral attempts to undermine Japan's administration of these islands," he said.

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Several senior US figures, including former secretary of state Hillary Clinton and Defence Secretary Chuck Hagel, have made similar statements, which Tokyo covets as a way to warn China away from territories it claims as the Diaoyu islands.

Mr Obama's week-long tour of Asia is being dubbed a "rebalancing" eastward of US foreign policy by the White House.

Although China is not on his itinerary, its presence will be felt on every leg at a time of complex regional disputes and questions about US strategy.

On Wednesday, China's state-run Xinhua news agency published a comment piece criticising US policy in the region as "a carefully calculated scheme to cage the rapidly developing Asian giant".

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Disputed islands part of US-Japan alliance: Obama

Obama pledges support to Japan in islands dispute

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TOKYO , April 23 (UPI) -- President Barack Obama, in an interview prior to his visit to Japan, said a bilateral defense treaty covers islands contested by China and Japan and that it supports Japanese claims.

He arrived in Tokyo Wednesday, the first stop on his seven-day trip that will include visits to South Korea, Malaysia and the Philippines. China is not on the itinerary but is expected to be a major topic of discussion with heads of state. The trip is an opportunity to reinforce the importance the United States places on Asia, former Assistant Secretary of State P.J. Crowley told the BBC.

Many traditional allies(also) value a strong U.S. presence in the region to balance an assertive China, he said. The visit comes at a period of significant tension among American allies, and between American allies and China.

Islands in the East China Sea, administered by Japan but contested by China, are a source of tension. Prior to the visit, Obama said in a written response to a Tokyo newspaper the islands fall within the scope of Article 5 of the U.S.-Japan Treaty of Mutual Cooperation and Security.

While Japan relies on the United States for its security, both sides have expressed interest in Japan taking on greater responsibility for its own defense.

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Obama pledges support to Japan in islands dispute

Dispute islands 'within scope' of US-Japan alliance: Barack Obama

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Tokyo: The islands at the centre of a corrosive row between Tokyo and Beijing are covered by the US-Japan defence alliance, Barack Obama told a newspaper ahead of his arrival in Tokyo on Wednesday.

Obama, whose tour of Asia will also take in South Korea, the Philippines and Malaysia, is the first sitting US president to explicitly affirm that hostile action against the island chain would spark an American reaction.

"The policy of the United States is clear -- the Senkaku Islands are administered by Japan and therefore fall within the scope of Article 5 of the US-Japan Treaty of Mutual Cooperation and Security," Obama said in a written interview with the Yomiuri Shimbun.

"And we oppose any unilateral attempts to undermine Japan's administration of these islands," he said.

Several senior US figures, including former secretary of state Hillary Clinton and Secretary of Defense Chuck Hagel have made similar statements, which Tokyo covets as a way to warn China away from territories it claims as the Diaoyus.

Obama's week-long tour of Asia is being dubbed by the White House a "rebalancing" eastward of US foreign policy.

Although China is not on his itinerary, its presence will be felt on every leg at a time of complex regional disputes and questions about US strategy.

The row over ownership of the Senkakus is not new, but has burst to the fore in the last two years, with paramilitary vessels from both sides jostling in nearby waters to assert control.

In November, China declared an air defence identification zone over the East China Sea, including the skies above the islands.

"I've also told (Chinese) President Xi (Jinping) that all our nations have an interest in dealing constructively with maritime issues, including in the East China Sea," Obama told the Yomiuri.

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Dispute islands 'within scope' of US-Japan alliance: Barack Obama


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