Clinton stands by Japan on China island row
WASHINGTON (AFP) Ñ US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton issued a veiled warning Friday to China not to challenge Japan’s control of disputed islands as Tokyo’s new government vowed not to aggravate tensions.
Foreign Minister Fumio Kishida met with Clinton on the first trip by a top Japanese official since Japan’s conservatives returned to power last month.
Clinton announced that Prime Minister Shinzo Abe would visit in February.
Amid signs that China is testing control over virtually uninhabited islands in the East China Sea, Clinton said the area was under Japan’s control and hence protected under a US security treaty with Tokyo.
“We oppose any unilateral actions that would seek to undermine Japanese administration,” Clinton told a joint news conference with Kishida.
Clinton did not mention Beijing directly in the warning, but said: “We want to see China and Japan resolve this matter peacefully through dialogue.”
“We do not want to see any action taken by anyone that could raise tensions or result in miscalculation that would undermine the peace, security and economic growth in this region,” she said.
The United States insists it is neutral on the ultimate sovereignty of the islands Ñ known as the Senkaku in Japanese and the Diaoyu in Chinese Ñ but that they are under the de facto administration of Japan.
China has repeatedly criticized the US position. Chinese surveillance ships and stateowned planes have increasingly neared the area, in what some see as a bid by Beijing to contest the notion that Japan holds effective control.
“The frequency and scale of their provocations have drastically increased,” Japanese foreign ministry spokesman Masaru Sato told reporters in Washington.
“The Chinese are trying to change the existing order by coercion or intimidation,” he said.
Abe has been known throughout his career as a hawk on national security.
But Kishida took a measured tone on China while in Washington, describing the relationship with Beijing as “one of the most important” for Japan.
“While Japan will not concede and will uphold our fundamental positions that the Senkaku islands are an inherent territory of Japan, we intend to respond calmly so as not to provoke China,” Kishida said.
Kishida welcomed Clinton’s support, saying that the statement on the security treaty “will go against any unilateral action that would infringe upon the administration rights of Japan.”
US officials and pundits have largely welcomed the return of the Liberal Democratic Party, believing that Abe’s firm positions and pledges to boost military spending will deter confrontational moves by Beijing.
Three Chinese government ships entered yesterday Japanese territorial waters around disputed islands, Japan’s coastguard said, hours after a veiled US warning to Beijing not to challenge Tokyo’s control.
The surveillance vessels entered waters around the islands known as the Senkakus in Japan and Diaoyus in China shortly after 9 a.m. (0000 GMT), the coastguard said in a statement.
The ships were spotted by Japanese coastguard vessels patrolling areas surrounding the islands in the East China Sea, controlled by Tokyo but claimed by Beijing, a coastguard official said.
China has repeatedly sailed into the waters since Japan nationalised the chain in September, a move that triggered anger and demonstrations in China.