Tokyo (EFE).– US Ambassador to Japan George Glass reaffirmed Washington’s commitment to Tokyo on Tuesday regarding the Senkaku Islands, administered by Japan but claimed by Beijing, after Chinese coast guard vessels patrolled the disputed waters amid heightened tensions over Taiwan.
“The United States is fully committed to the defense of Japan, which includes the Senkaku Islands. And formations of Chinese coast guard ships won’t change that,” the US ambassador said on X.
Glass also quoted US President Donald Trump, who earlier this year expressed his “strong opposition” to any action that “seeks to undermine Japan’s longstanding and peaceful administration of the Senkaku Islands.”
Japanese newspaper Yomiuri reported that four Chinese Coast Guard vessels entered the territorial waters of the Senkaku Islands.
The coast guard had said on Sunday that one of its ships patrolled waters that Beijing considers part of its jurisdiction.
The incursion, the first since Oct. 15, occurred amid escalated tensions between the two countries, after Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi told parliament just over a week ago that a Chinese military attack on Taiwan could justify the intervention of Japan’s self-defense forces.
These statements were slammed by Beijing as a “serious interference” in its internal affairs and sparked increased tensions between the two Asian countries, although the Japanese government has already expressed its willingness to de-escalate tensions through dialogue.
Government representatives from Japan and China met Tuesday in Beijing to try to ease the bilateral tensions, according to Japanese media reports, which did not provide details of the meeting’s outcome.
The meeting took place between Masaaki Kanai, director of the Japanese foreign ministry’s Asian and Oceanian Affairs Bureau and his Chinese counterpart, Liu Jinsong, after the diplomatic dispute began to affect sectors such as tourism, education, and entertainment, with calls for mutual boycotts.
Kanai was dispatched to the Chinese capital on Monday after days of mutual recriminations between Japan and China following Sanae Takaichi’s remarks.
According to leaks to Japanese news agency Kyodo, Kanai planned to convey to Liu that Japan maintains its official position of not formally recognizing Taiwan, in accordance with the “One China” policy, but also to express Tokyo’s displeasure with a controversial social media post by the Chinese consul in Osaka, Xue Jian, which has since been deleted, threatening to cut off Takaichi’s head.
Japanese government spokesperson Minoru Kihara said on Tuesday that his country was open to any kind of bilateral dialogue with China, although he also revealed that Japanese authorities have urged their citizens residing in China to take extra security precautions.
Beijing, for its part, has demanded that Takaichi retract her comments and has advised its citizens to avoid travel to the archipelago, causing sharp declines for tourism and retail companies at the Tokyo Stock Exchange.
Despite Japan’s calls for dialogue, the Chinese government said on Monday that Premier Li Qiang, has no plans to meet with Japanese leaders during the G20 summit taking place this weekend in South Africa, which will also be attended by Takaichi. EFE
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