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Disputed isles are covered by US-Japan pact: Obama

TOKYO — United States President Barack Obama has, for the first time, assured Japan that tiny islands in the East China Sea at the heart of a territorial row with China are covered by a bilateral security treaty that obligates America to come to Japan’s defence.

OBAMA DREAMS OF SUSHI  United States President Barack Obama (left) and Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe shaking hands before having dinner at the famous Sukiyabashi Jiro sushi restaurant in Tokyo yesterday. (See story on page 14) Photo: AP

OBAMA DREAMS OF SUSHI United States President Barack Obama (left) and Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe shaking hands before having dinner at the famous Sukiyabashi Jiro sushi restaurant in Tokyo yesterday. (See story on page 14) Photo: AP

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TOKYO — United States President Barack Obama has, for the first time, assured Japan that tiny islands in the East China Sea at the heart of a territorial row with China are covered by a bilateral security treaty that obligates America to come to Japan’s defence.

He gave the assurance in a written response to questions by Japanese newspaper Yomiuri Shimbun published yesterday, hours before he arrived in Tokyo for the start of a four-nation trip amid rising regional tensions with China and North Korea.

“The policy of the US is clear — the Senkaku islands are administered by Japan and therefore fall within the scope of ... the US-Japan Treaty of Mutual Cooperation and Security,” Mr Obama said, using the Japanese name for the islands that are known as Diaoyu in China, which also claims them.

“We oppose any unilateral attempts to undermine Japan’s administration of these islands.”

Mr Obama added that he had told Chinese President Xi Jinping that all nations have an interest in dealing constructively with maritime issues.

“Disputes need to be resolved through dialogue and diplomacy; not intimidation and coercion.”

Mr Obama said the US “welcomes the continuing rise of a China that is stable, prosperous and peaceful, and plays a responsible role in global affairs. And our engagement with China does not and will not come at the expense of Japan or any other ally.”

The remarks are aimed at assuaging concerns by Tokyo and other allies over his commitment to their defence in the face of an increasingly assertive China, but without hurting vital US ties with Asia’s biggest economy.

Chinese foreign ministry spokesman Qin Gang yesterday said China “resolutely opposed” the disputed islands being part of the security treaty.

“The so-called US-Japan alliance is a bilateral arrangement from the Cold War and ought not to harm China’s territorial sovereignty and reasonable rights,” he said.

Chinese state media also greeted Mr Obama’s visit with a broadside accusing the US policy in the region as “a carefully calculated scheme to cage” China, demonstrating the delicate balancing act Mr Obama faces.

“The US should ... stop pampering its chums like Japan and the Philippines that have been igniting regional tensions with provocative moves,” said Xinhua in a commentary yesterday.

Sino-Japan ties have chilled over the past two years, and Japan has been beset by anxiety over how much the rhetoric in Mr Obama’s promised “pivot” of military, diplomatic and trade resources towards Asia matches reality.

China, for its part, fears the US is pursuing a policy of containment through its network of Asian allies, several of whom have long-standing territorial disputes with Beijing in the East and South China Seas.

Mr Obama and Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe will hold formal talks today. Both leaders are also keen to show progress on a two-way trade pact seen as critical to a broader regional deal that would be one of the world’s biggest trade agreements and is central to Mr Obama’s “pivot” to Asia.

Mr Obama also reaffirmed Washington’s commitment to the security of South Korea, and said it would stand firm in its insistence that a nuclear North Korea was unacceptable.

Seoul is Mr Obama’s second stop on his four-nation swing, which includes Malaysia and the Philippines. AGENCIES

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