US, Japan defence chiefs vow closer ties amid China’s activities in South, East China seas

Nobuo Kishi said the two ‘agreed to oppose any unilateral attempts to change the status quo in the South and East China seas’

China has been aggressively pressing its territorial claims in the two seas, raising tensions with Japan and a number of other Asian countries

2-MIN READ2-MIN

Japan’s Defence Minister Nobuo Kishi. Photo: AP

Published: 12:47pm, 24 Jan 2021Updated: 12:51pm, 24 Jan 2021

Japan’s Defence Minister Nobuo Kishi and his newly appointed US counterpart Lloyd Austin agreed on Sunday to enhance their countries’ alliance amid China’s growing maritime assertiveness.

“We agreed to oppose any unilateral attempts to change the status quo in the South and East China seas,” Kishi told reporters after the two held phone talks.

Kishi said they reaffirmed that Article 5 of the Japan-US security treaty requiring the United States to protect Japan against an armed attack covers the disputed Diaoyu Islands in the East China Sea, which are administered by Tokyo but claimed by Beijing. The islands are known as the Senkakus in Japan.

China has been aggressively pressing its territorial claims in the two seas, raising tensions with Japan and a number of other Asian countries.

Kishi and Austin agreed on the key role of the bilateral alliance in the region and also on the need to cooperate with various partners, including outside the region, to maintain and strengthen a free and open Indo-Pacific, according to the Japanese Defence Ministry.

“We discussed the resolute and resilient nature of the US-Japan Alliance and joint efforts to maintain a free & open Indo-Pacific,” Austin said on Twitter.

US defence chief Lloyd Austin III. Photo: Getty Images/TNS

They also agreed to work toward the goal of getting North Korea to rid itself of weapons of mass destruction and ballistic missiles in a “complete, verifiable and irreversible manner”, Kishi said.