Mattis scolds China, says US stands 'shoulder to shoulder' with Japan
Secretary of Defense James Mattis said during an official visit to Tokyo on Saturday that the United States would stand 鈥�100 percent, shoulder to shoulder鈥� with Japan on its claims to disputed islands in the East China Sea.
The Senkaku islands, a series of eight uninhabited features thought to lie near oil and gas deposits, are , which refers to them as the Diaoyu. The dispute has periodically bubbled up into standoffs between Japanese and Chinese warships and air forces, especially after Japan bought several of the islands from a private owner in 2012.
The United States, said retired Gen. Mattis, would continue to honor a 1960 security treaty that commits the US to supporting Japan in the event of an attack on 鈥渢erritories under the administration of Japan鈥�.
鈥淚 made clear that our longstanding policy on the Senkaku Islands stands 鈥� the US will continue to recognize Japanese administration of the islands and as such, Article 5 of the US-Japan security treaty applies,鈥� he said, .
The comments appear to mark a shift, at least in tone, by Trump administration, contrasting with the president鈥檚 March complaint that the security treaty was and suggested he could withdraw US forces from military bases in Japan and South Korea if they did not pay more for US protection.
But Mattis鈥� reaffirmation of a long-held US stance may resurface questions about how aggressive of a line the new administration might take on China鈥檚 territorial aims.
China鈥檚 claims to territories in the South China Sea, where it has gone on outfitting artificial islands with military installations despite an international panel鈥檚 ruling, have been a source of rising tension.聽
At his January confirmation hearing, US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson answered questions on the matter with little of the delicacy that normally surrounds it, raising alarms that President Trump鈥檚 campaign-trail remarks might find parallel in actual policy. 聽
鈥淲e鈥檙e going to send China a clear signal that, first, the island-building stops, and second, your access to those islands is also not going to be allowed,鈥� said Mr. Tillerson then.
As 海角大神鈥檚 Michael Holtz wrote afterward, denying Chinese access to those islands would likely require military action:
Trump has said that on his first day in office, he will order his Treasury secretary to label China a currency manipulator. He has also pledged to impose high, retaliatory tariffs on China that economists say would all but guarantee a trade war. 聽And Tillerson鈥檚 threat, should it become reality, could raise tensions to a much higher level.
Still, experts including Professor Ross of Boston College consider such an outcome unlikely.
鈥淭illerson鈥檚 remarks may be appropriate to secure confirmation from the Senate, but as policy they are not at all helpful,鈥� he says. 鈥淎s secretary of State, Tillerson would likely adopt a far more prudent approach to China鈥檚 maritime activities.鈥�
On Saturday, Mattis also criticized China for ignoring a 2016聽international court鈥檚 decision聽that聽14 of 15 major claims in the South China Sea did not conform to international law, which China had agreed to uphold. Mattis聽accused Beijing of having 鈥渟hredded the trust of nations in the region.鈥� But he also sounded more like his predecessors from the Obama administration in emphasizing diplomacy.
"What we have to do is exhaust all efforts, diplomatic efforts, to try and resolve this properly," he said, according to CNN.
China responded to those remarks by reiterating its claim to the Senkaku/Diaoyu islands, characterizing the US-Japan treaty a 鈥減roduct of the Cold War鈥� and calling on the US not to create instability in the region, .
鈥淲e urge the U.S. side to take a responsible attitude, stop making wrong remarks on the issue involving the Diaoyu islands鈥� sovereignty, and avoid making the issue more complicated and bringing instability to the regional situation,鈥� said Chinese foreign minister Lu Kang in a statement.
