In the interview at the White House, Japanese Premier Shinzo Abe and Barak Obama confirm the economic and political alliance between the two countries. Japan is the most important partner for the U.S. in Asia. Obama's silence on disputed islands between Japan and China.

Washington (AsiaNews / Agencies) - The United States will support Japan against North Korea's nuclear threat, but is pushing for a diplomatic resolution to tensions between Tokyo and Beijing on the issue of the Diaoyu / Senkaku islands. This is what emerges from the encounter between Shinzo Abe, Prime Minister of Japan and U.S. President Barack Obama which took place yesterday at the White House, on the occasion of the Japanese Premier's visit. "The United States will be an important partner for Japan during your mandate," Obama said in the meeting with the Japanese prime minister. "The alliance with Japan - he continued - is the central foundation of American policy in Asia."

At the end of the interview the U.S. president raised the support of the United States in the fight against North Korea's nuclear proliferation, which was confirmed by the February 12nuclear test, despite opposition from Beijing, who heretofore had been Pyongyang's lone ally .

To calm tensions in East Asia, Washington reiterated its cautious stance on islands disputed between Japan, China and South Korea.  In the talks between the two leaders the issue was glossed over in order to avoid a reaction from Beijing. A few hours after the meeting, China attacked Abe who in an interview with a Japanese newspaper had criticized China's policies in the East China Sea, stressing that Beijing's attitude only penalizes investment in the region.

Prime Minister from 2006-2007, Abe is known for his conservative views. On a visit to Washington in 2010, while in opposition, he had accused China of pursuing a policy of "Lebensraum", the term used by Adolf Hitler to indicate the "living space" of Nazi Germany.

Since being re-elected Premier, Abe has been more cautious in expressing his views, especially on the events of the Second World War, a subject that remains an open wound in relations with South Korea and China.

• JAPAN
• -
• USA
• relations
• diplomacy
• china
• north
• korea
• nuclear
• program