US vows to defend Japan against China

by Staff Writers
Washington (AFP) Feb 07, 2014

Secretary of State John Kerry vowed Friday that the United States would defend Japan against attack including over islands claimed by China as tensions boil between the Asian powers.
Kerry, who said he would visit China next week, met in Washington with Japanese Foreign Minister Fumio Kishida and reaffirmed the 1960 treaty that commits the United States to protect its ally.
"That includes with respect to the South China Sea," he said, before correcting himself to say the East China Sea, where China and Japan have conflicting claims.
Fears of conflict rose in November when China imposed an Air Defense Identification Zone over much of the East China Sea.
Beijing says it now requires notification from planes crossing a group of islands administered by Tokyo, known in Japanese as the Senkaku and in Chinese as Diaoyu.
"The United States neither recognizes nor accepts China's declared East China Sea ADIZ and the United States has no intention of changing how we conduct operations in the region," Kerry said.
The United States and its allies are increasingly concerned China will take similar action in the South China Sea, where the Philippines in particular has voiced worries about Beijing's maritime claims.
Kishida, for his part, extended an invitation for President Barack Obama to make a state visit to Japan.
Diplomats say Obama is likely to visit Japan on an April tour of Asia, although Kerry is not expected to stop in Tokyo on his upcoming trip.

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 Beijing denounces 'groundless' US remarks on South China Sea

Beijing (AFP) Feb 07, 2014 - Beijing on Friday dismissed a US official's warning against possible Chinese expansion in the skies over the South China Sea, calling the remarks "irresponsible".The United States had urged Beijing to clarify or adjust its claims in the South China Sea, calling for a peaceful solution to one of Asia's growing flashpoints."Some US officials make groundless accusations against China," Chinese foreign ministry spokesman Hong Lei told reporters at a regular briefing.
He added that "right-wing forces in Japan" were responsible for stirring up "rumours" on the issue.
Hong was responding to comments made on Wednesday by the top US diplomat for the region, Danny Russel, warning Beijing not to move to impose an air zone over the territory.
Beijing claims the South China Sea almost in its entirety, even areas a long way from its shoreline, but portions are also claimed by the Philippines, Vietnam, Malaysia, Brunei and Taiwan.
Russel supported the Philippines' right to take its case to a United Nations tribunal -- a move last year that was denounced by China -- as part of efforts to find a "peaceful, non-coercive" solution.
"China's lack of clarity with regard to its South China Sea claims has created uncertainty in the region and limits the prospect for achieving mutually agreeable resolution or equitable joint development arrangements," Russel told a congressional committee.
Japan's Asahi Shimbun, citing Chinese government sources, recently reported that Beijing had drafted proposals for the new air zone, with tensions already high over its imposition of an air zone above islands administered by Japan in the East China Sea.
That Air Defence Identification Zone (ADIZ), set up in November, immediately drew condemnation from Washington as well as Tokyo, with which China is embroiled in a separate territorial row.
"We neither recognize nor accept China's declared ADIZ," Russel, the US assistant secretary of state for East Asian and Pacific affairs, told the committee.
He added that the US had "made clear to China that it shouldn't attempt to implement that ADIZ and should refrain from taking similar actions elsewhere in the region".
Hong on Friday reiterated Beijing's position that "as a sovereign state, China has the right to act" in order to defend its air security.
"No country has the right to make irresponsible remarks on that," he said of Russel's comments.


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ABC.net.au/news/Australia Network News

Beijing denounces 'groundless' US remarks on South China Sea

Posted Sat 8 Feb 2014, 4:58am AEDT

Photo: The city of Sansha on an island in the disputed Paracel chain, which China now considers part of Hainan province. (AFP: STR)

Beijing has dismissed a US official's warning against possible Chinese expansion in the skies over the South China Sea, calling the remarks "irresponsible".

The United States had called on Beijing to clarify or adjust its territorial claims in the South China Sea.
"Some US officials make groundless accusations against China," Chinese foreign ministry spokesman Hong Lei said.
He added that "right-wing forces in Japan" were responsible for stirring up "rumours" on the issue.
Mr Hong was responding to comments made on Wednesday by the top US diplomat for the region, Danny Russel, warning Beijing not to move to impose an air zone over the territory.
Beijing claims the South China Sea almost in its entirety, but portions are also claimed by the Philippines, Vietnam, Malaysia, Brunei and Taiwan.
Mr Russel supported the Philippines' right to take its case to a United Nations tribunal, a move last year that was denounced by China, as part of efforts to find a "peaceful, non-coercive" solution.
"China's lack of clarity with regard to its South China Sea claims has created uncertainty in the region and limits the prospect for achieving mutually agreeable resolution or equitable joint development arrangements," Mr Russel, the US assistant secretary of state for East Asian and Pacific affairs, told a congressional committee.


Read More Here
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