Japan’s new conservative Prime Minister Shinzo Abe on Thursday opened a visit to the United States in which he hopes to show a firm, unified line to an assertive China and a defiant North Korea.
Abe arrived in Washington to meet Friday with President Barack Obama at a time of growing tensions between Japan and China, which is seen as challenging Tokyo’s control over strategic islands, and days after a nuclear test by Pyongyang.
Fresh from a convincing December election victory and with high approval ratings, Abe has taken small steps toward a harder Japanese stance including moving to step up military spending by the officially pacifist state.
Danny Russel, Obama’s top advisor on Asia, said the United States wanted a diplomatic solution to ease tensions but also reiterated a veiled warning to China over contested islands in the East China Sea.
Obama “remains supportive of the peaceful efforts to find diplomatic resolution to outstanding issues of territorial claims,” Russel told reporters on a conference call.
Obama has also “been clear in the United States’ opposition to coercive actions or unilateral steps that threaten the stability of the region,” he said.