2 minutes read
Tokyo, Jan 24 (efe-epa).- The defense ministers of Japan and the United States have pledged to strengthen their military alliance to counter China’s push in the East Asian Seas, the Japanese minister said Sunday.
Nobuo Kishi and Lloyd Austin, who was recently confirmed by the US Senate as the secretary of defense in President Joe Biden’s administration, spoke on the phone Sunday.
“We agreed to oppose any unilateral attempts to change the status quo in the South and East China seas,” Kishi told reporters after his first conversation with Austin, local news agency Kyodo reported.
Both officials reaffirmed Article 5 of the bilateral security treaty that requires the US to protect Japan against an attack on the Senkaku Islands (called Diaoyu by China) in the East China Sea.