Tokyo seeks US vow of support in East China Sea, as dispute with Beijing heats up

Japanese and US national security chiefs spoke after Biden’s inauguration, and Washington reiterated their defence deal applied to the Diaoyu Islands, known as the Senkakus in Japan

Chinese ships in the disputed area have become an urgent issue for Tokyo, which also sent a diplomatic note to the UN over China’s activities in the South China Sea

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The Diaoyu Islands, known in Japan as the Senkakus. Photo: Kyodo

Published: 5:00pm, 22 Jan 2021Updated: 10:07pm, 22 Jan 2021

In a sign of the significance of the issue for Japan, Tokyo has wasted no time in getting the new administration in Washington to confirm that disputed islands in the East China Sea are Japanese territory and that the US would come to Japan’s assistance should that control be jeopardised.

Jake Sullivan, the national security adviser to new US President Joe Biden, held talks on Thursday with Shigeru Kitamura, the head of Japan’s National Security Secretariat, on a range of issues. From Tokyo’s perspective, the greatest concern was the Diaoyu Islands, known as the Senkaku Islands in Japan.

Sullivan reaffirmed the importance of the Japan-US security treaty, including Article 5. That key element of the deal stipulates US defence obligations to Japan, with Sullivan stating that in the Biden administration’s view, the deal applied to the disputed islands, and the US would oppose any unilateral action that threatens to undermine Japan’s administration of the islands.

Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga extracted a similar confirmation from Biden in November, immediately after it had become clear that he had won the US election, but this latest reiteration is designed to serve as a message to both a domestic and a foreign audience, say analysts.

“This is the issue that is at the very forefront of the Japanese government’s thinking and concerns, because it is by far the most immediate threat to national security,” said Jun Okumura, an analyst at the Meiji Institute for Global Affairs.

“And it is getting more critical by the day because of the repeated violations of Japanese territorial waters around the islands by Chinese government ships,” he said. “This is the most urgent issue for Japan and the one that has the highest potential to become a hot conflict.”

A Chinese maritime surveillance vessel (right) passes near the Senkaku Islands in the East China Sea in July 2013. Photo: Kyodo

It comes as “no surprise” that Japan sought and obtained such an “unequivocal statement” on Washington’s position on the disputed islands, he said. “I understand that there were concerns in some quarters about the language that might be used by the US, so Japan will be relieved that they now have such an explicit expression of support from the new government.”