The WSJ reports,"U.S. President Barack Obama offered Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe an unequivocal affirmation that if islands at the center of Japan's territorial dispute with China were ever attacked, the U.S. would come to Japan's aid".
Mr. Obama walked a careful line, stopping short of taking Japan's side on which country has sovereignty over the East China Sea islands—claimed by both China and Japan and administered by Tokyo—and emphasizing there had been no shift in the U.S. position. And he nudged his counterpart to open up Japan's markets as the two leaders emerged from talks Thursday without being able to present agreement on a broad trade deal.
Still, his statement that the U.S.-Japan security treaty "covers all territories under Japan's administration, including the Senkaku Islands"—using the Japanese word for the islands known as Diaoyu in China—both reassure Mr. Abe, who said he fully trusted Mr. Obama's pledge, as well as provoke a swift reaction in Beijing, which expressed "strong opposition" to Mr. Obama's statement.
Foreign Ministry spokesman Qin Gang said during a regular media briefing that the U.S.-Japan treaty "should not target a third party or harm China's sovereignty."
Mr. Obama urged a peaceful resolution to the dispute over the uninhabited territory while emphasizing that the U.S. wanted good relations with China.
He said the U.S. doesn't take a position on which country holds sovereignty over the islands. "Historically they have been administered by Japan, and we do not believe that they should be subject to change unilaterally," he said, adding that the U.S. wants to continue to encourage the peaceful rise of China.
