Obama signals support for Japan in island dispute
Kosuke Takahashi, Tokyo and James Hardy, London - IHS Jane's Defence Weekly
24 April 2014
US President Barack Obama and Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe on 24 April agreed to work together to monitor and deter increasingly aggressive Chinese activities in the East China Sea.
Speaking at a joint news conference with Abe in Tokyo, Obama reiterated that the contested Senkaku/Diaoyu Islands are administered by Japan and therefore fall within the scope of Article 5 of the US-Japan security treaty, which obliges the United States to defend Japanese territory.
It was the first time a US president had made such a statement regarding the Senkakus, which have become the focus of confrontations between Chinese and Japanese paramilitary maritime forces.
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Picture: The Asahi Shimbun
