Obama, Japan PM firm on N.Korea, measured on China
23 February AFP
US President Barack Obama pledged with Japan's new leader to take a
firm line on a defiant North Korea but the two sides also tried to calm
rising tensions between Tokyo and China.
Prime Minister Shinzo Abe carefully avoided disagreements with Obama
after previous Japanese governments' rifts and declared: “The alliance
between Japan and the United States is back now. It's completely back.”
Obama promised to work closely with the conservative leader, whose
Liberal Democratic Party swept back into power in December on a platform
that includes boosting defense spending and aggressively stimulating a
long-flaccid economy.
“You can rest assured that you will have a strong partner in the
United States throughout your tenure,” Obama told Abe in the Oval
Office, calling the alliance with Japan “the central foundation” for US
policy in Asia.Obama said the two leaders discussed “our concerns about
the provocative actions that have been taken by North Korea and our
determination to take strong actions in response.” North Korea carried
out its third nuclear test on February 12, ignoring warnings even from
its ally China.Abe, who first rose to political prominence as an
advocate for a tough line on North Korea, said he agreed with Obama's
position of not offering “rewards” to Pyongyang and on the need for a
new UN Security Council resolution. But the White House appeared to want
to lower the temperature between Japan and China, which has increasingly
sent vessels near Japanese-controlled islands known as the Senkaku in
Japanese and Diaoyu in Chinese. Obama did not mention the issue but
Secretary of State John Kerry, in a separate meeting with Japan's
Foreign Minister Fumio Kishida, said he wanted to “compliment Japan on
the restraint it has shown.” The meetings came hours after Beijing
lashed out at Abe over a newspaper interview in which he charged that
China would eventually hurt its investment climate through assertive
actions in the region.
Abe said the US-Japan alliance was “a stabilizing factor” and -- in
remarks he nudged his translator to read out -- added: “We have always
been dealing with the Senkaku issue in a calm manner and we will
continue to do so.” The Japanese leader later spoke in stronger terms in
an address at a think tank. While saying he wanted to cooperate with
China's incoming leader Xi Jinping, Abe insisted that the islands
belonged to Japan.
“We simply cannot tolerate any challenge now and in the future. No
nation should make any miscalculation about the firmness of our
resolve,” Abe said at the Center for Strategic and International
Studies. The exchange marked a different tone than one month ago, when
then secretary of state Hillary Clinton warned China not to challenge
Japan's control of the islands, triggering a rebuke from Beijing.Obama
put a strong emphasis on Asia in his first term but has faced chronic
political turbulence in Japan. Abe is the fifth Japanese prime minister
since Obama was elected president. Abe, who was also prime minister from
2006 to 2007, is known for his outspoken views on security and on World
War II history a persistent sore point in relations with South Korea and
China. He has been more circumspect in his comments since returning to
office. Abe said Friday he sought a “good relationship” with South Korea
despite friction with the fellow US ally over a separate set of barely
inhabited islands.
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