In Tokyo, Obama irks Beijing by siding with Japan over disputed islands
Tokyo (AsiaNews) - The Senkaku Islands, a group of uninhabited islands in the East China Sea disputed by China and Japan, "fall within the scope of Article 5 of the US-Japan Treaty of Mutual Co-operation and Security," said today US president Barack Obama during an official visit to Japan, part of an Asia tour that will take him to South Korea, Malaysia and the Philippines.
Obama is the first US president to intervene directly on the question, which has poisoned relations between Tokyo and Beijing for decades.
"The policy of the United States is clear," the US president said. "The Senkaku Islands are administered by Japan and therefore fall within the scope of Article 5 of the US-Japan Treaty of Mutual Co-operation and Security." Hence, "And we oppose any unilateral attempts to undermine Japan's administration of these islands."
The 1960 US-Japan Treaty calls for the United States to intervene militarily in case of an attack against Japanese territory.
Beijing's reaction was immediate.
"It should be noted," Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Qin Gang said, "that the US-Japan alliance, as a bilateral arrangement forged during the Cold War era, should never infringe upon China's territorial sovereignty and legitimate rights and interests. China firmly opposes" this decision.
The clash between China and Japan over who owns the islands has been going on for decades, but has worsened in the last three.
Tokyo bought three of the five islands from private owners in September 2011, a move that angered Beijing, which responded with a campaign to assert its political and military sovereignty over the area.
Taiwan is also involved in the dispute. Taipei has proposed to develop the area jointly without focusing on ownership.
What the islands are worth is unclear. Some consider them strategically important given their location in one of the busiest shipping lanes. Others believe that in addition to rich fishing grounds, the seafloor around the islands hold vast gas reserves.
In 2008, in a gesture of détente, Beijing and Tokyo signed an agreement for joint development and research on the islands, which, however, never materialised.
Obama also wants to rein in Beijing's other territorial claims.
In the East China Sea, China is at loggerheads with Japan over the Senkaku/Diaoyu Islands and with the Philippines over the Scarborough Shoal.
But in the South China Sea, Beijing also claims sovereignty over the Spratly and Paracel Islands, which are also claimed by Vietnam, Brunei, Philippines, Malaysia and Taiwan.
All these resource-rich islands are almost uninhabited.
Beijing's hegemony is strategic in nature with regards to trade as well as oil and natural gas seabed development, this in a region crossed by two thirds of the world's maritime trade.
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