TOKYO, Nov. 13 (Reuters) – Japanese Foreign Minister Yoshimasa Hayashi said on Saturday that US Secretary of State Antony Blinken assured him in a phone call of the states’ commitment – United in defending Japan, especially on the issue of the Senkaku-Diaoyu Islands.
Sino-Japanese relations are complicated by the conflict over a group of East China Sea islands, named Senkaku by Tokyo and Diaoyu by Beijing, as well as the legacy of Japan’s past military aggression against China. China.
“Secretary of State Antony Blinken told us that the United States’ commitment to defend Japan, including the application of Article 5 of the Japanese-American security treaty for the Senkaku Islands, was unshakeable,” Yoshimasa Hayashi told reporters.
Article 5 of the treaty states that each party recognizes that an armed attack on territories under Japanese administration would be dangerous to the peace and security of Japan, and that it would act to deal with the common danger.
Yoshimasa Hayashi said he and Antony Blinken shared the view that peace and stability in the Taiwan Strait is important.
Tensions have increased in the strait in recent months, with Taiwan complaining about repeated missions carried out by the Chinese air force.
(Report Kiyoshi Takenaka; French version Camille Raynaud)
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