Senkaku Islands fall under US-Japan treaty, says Barack Obama ahead of Asia tour

Zee Media Bureau Tokyo: Seven months after he cancelled a planned Asia tour last year due to government shutdown, US President Barack Obama on Wednesday set out on a four-nation Asia tour with crucial topics like North Korea`s nuke overtures, Japan`s territorial disputes with its neighbours and the Trans Pacific Partnership (TPP) trade deal set to dominate the agenda.

Starting his 8-day tour with Japan, Obama`s next stops will be in three other countries - South Korea, Malaysia, and the Philippines. Obama`s Asia tour will aim to reassure the nations of continued US commitment to the region, with an eye both to China`s rising assertiveness and the fast-growing markets that are the center of gravity for global growth. In Japan, where Obama arrives on Wednesday, country`s territorial dispute regarding South China Sea and East China Sea is set to be the major talk other than negotiations over the Trans Pacific Partnership (TPP) trade deal. Ahead of his arrival in Japan, Obama has claimed in an interview with a Japanese newspaper that Senkaku islands fall within the scope of Article 5 of the US-Japan Treaty that goes on to mean that the US is obliged to defend Japan in case the disputed islands are attacked by China. In a written interview to Japanese newspaper The Yomiuri Shimbun, Obama stated, "The policy of the United States is clear—the Senkaku Islands are administered by Japan and therefore fall within the scope of Article 5 of the US-Japan Treaty of Mutual Cooperation and Security. And we oppose any unilateral attempts to undermine Japan’s administration of these islands,”. According to Article 5, US owes defense obligations to Japan, which apply to territories under the administration of Japan. Obama`s trip to Japan is the first state visit by a US president since Bill and Hillary Clinton came in 1996. He will be the first sitting US president to visit Malaysia since Lyndon Johnson in 1966. Allies South Korea and the Philippines, the two other stops on his agenda, are also keen to shore up security ties. US allies wonder if America has adequate capability to back them up in territorial rifts with China, Caspile says, given Washington`s budget problems and preoccupation with crises elsewhere. The United States already has a free-trade agreement with South Korea, which is likely to eventually join the Trans-Pacific Partnership. Both the US and Japan had hoped to announce "substantial progress" on the pact by the time of Obama`s visit despite conflicts over tariffs on farm products and automobiles. Officials signaled Tuesday that a breakthrough was unlikely. A TPP deal with Japan is vital for making headway with the other 10 countries in the trade bloc, which includes Malaysia, the third stop on Obama`s swing through Asia, the market for about 60 percent of US Exports. As the US shifts more of its military assets into the Pacific region, it is stepping up cooperation with many Southeast Asian nations, including Malaysia. Chinese naval exercises near the James Shoal, just 80 kilometers (50 miles) off the coast of Malaysia`s Sarawak state, have strained Malaysia`s resolve to avoid confrontation over territorial disputes. Both the US and Japan have stepped up support for the Philippines, the last stop on Obama`s eight-day journey, with Tokyo offering retired coast guard cutters to help fend off intrusions by Chinese naval vessels near still other disputed islands in the South China Sea. The Philippines is negotiating with Washington for a beefed up security agreement to allow more access for US troops, ships and aircraft to detect and deter such incursions. With Agency Inputs