Chronicle EditorTOKYO. — United States president Barack Obama has reiterated that islands at the centre of a Sino-Japanese dispute are covered by a US-Japan defence pact, in a public show of support for allies in Tokyo.
In comments made yesterday in Japan, Obama said that the islands – known as Senkaku in Japan and Diaoyu in China – were historically administered by Tokyo and came under the terms of joint-defence alliance. He said US commitment to the treaty was “absolute”. “This is not a new position. This is a consistent one,” he said. “Article five covers all territories under Japan’s administration including Senkaku islands.”
However, he said: “We stand together in calling for disputes in the region, including maritime issues, to be resolved peacefully through dialogue.”
He said the US commitment to defend Japan was a matter of historical fact rather than a rebuke to China: “The treaty preceded my birth, so obviously this isn’t the red line that I’m drawing.”
China later said that the islands were its property. The row over ownership of the islands has come to the fore in the last two years, with paramilitary vessels from both sides jostling in nearby waters to assert control.
Obama is on a week-long tour of Asia, part of what is being dubbed by the White House a “rebalancing” eastward of US foreign policy. — Al Jazeera.
Online Reporter