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US President Barack Obama (right) and Japan's Prime Minister Shinzo Abe wave while posing upon arrival at the North Portico of the White House. Photo: AFP

Abe, Obama meet at White House with China warning them to tread carefully

China expressed concern about the latest US-Japanese agreement to bolster military cooperation, warning the two countries that changes must not affect Beijing's standing in the Asia-Pacific region.

Shinzo Abe
AFP

China yesterday expressed concern about the latest US-Japanese agreement to bolster military cooperation, warning the two countries that changes must not affect Beijing's standing in the Asia-Pacific region.

The comments came a day after the announcement of the first major revisions in more than 18 years to the framework guiding cooperation between the armed forces of Japan and the US, and hours before US President Barack Obama and Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe were due to cement an alliance given new relevance by China's rise.

"The United States and Japan have the responsibility to ensure that their alliance will not harm the interests of a third party," foreign ministry spokesman Hong Lei said during a regular press briefing. The new rules established for defence cooperation will give Japanese forces a wider global role and allow them to defend US assets.

Obama played host to Abe at the White House yesterday, hoping to hammer out a bumper Pacific trade deal and encourage the emergence of a more assertive Japan, which could prove a potent counterbalance to China.

Obama welcomed Abe with full pomp and ceremony on a bright, dewy morning at the White House, calling the state visit a "celebration of the ties of friendship" and praising the alliance the US and Japan have built over time.

Setting the tone for the visit, Obama said: "The United States has renewed our leadership in the Asia Pacific. Prime Minister Abe is leading Japan to a new role on the world stage."

Abe, speaking in Japanese, said he and Obama had been working to strengthen the US-Japan alliance since they first met two years ago. "Now our bilateral relationship is more robust than ever," he said.

The visit aims to highlight the reconciliation between two nations once at war and to point the way towards expanded economic ties. The two countries are working towards a 12-nation Trans-Pacific Partnership agreement that would further open vast Asian and Pacific rim markets to US exports.

Obama has undertaken an effort to rebalance the US role in Asia and has argued time and again that without a trade agreement with Asian countries, China will step into the breach.

"If we don't write the rules, China will write the rules out in that region," Obama said.

The United States and Japan "share a concern" about China's activities in the South China Sea, where Beijing had built an air strip and other structures on coral reefs, Obama said.

"The United States and Japan are united in our commitment to freedom of navigation, respect for international law, and the peaceful resolution of disputes without coercion," Obama said during the joint White House press conference with Abe.

This article appeared in the South China Morning Post print edition as: Abe, Obama warned to tread carefully
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