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Japan’s new foreign minister, Yoshimasa Hayashi, said Saturday that US Secretary of State Antony Blinken assured him by telephone that the US commitment to defending Japan, including the southern islands claimed by China, was unwavering.
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The group of islands disputed between Tokyo and Beijing is in the East China Sea. By the Japanese, the islands were given the name Senkaku and by the Chinese the Diaoyu.
The tension between the two countries is also a legacy of Japan’s military aggression in the past.
“Minister Blinken stated that the US commitment to defend Japan, including the implementation of Article 5 of the Japan-US Security Treaty for the Senkaku Islands, is unwavering,” Hayashi told reporters, as quoted by Reuters. Reuters.
Article 5 of the agreement says each side recognizes armed attacks on areas under Japanese rule would be dangerous to its peace and security, and will act to deal with the common danger.
Hayashi said he and Blinken share the view that the peace and stability of the Taiwan Strait is important.
Cross-strait tensions have risen in recent months, with Taiwan complaining for a year or more about repeated missions by the Chinese Air Force near the self-governing island that Beijing claims as its own.
The Japanese Foreign Ministry in a written statement said Hayashi and Blinken strongly opposed China’s unilateral efforts to change the status quo in the East China Sea and South China Sea, and agreed on close cooperation between the two allies in responding to issues concerning China.
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