Pentagon ready to defend disputed islands in Japan

China believes that the Japanese authorities should cede the Senkaku archipelago along with the rights to Taiwan.

The new US Defense Secretary, Lloyd Austin, in a conversation with his Japanese counterpart Nobuo Kishi, announced Washington’s intention to defend the Senkaku Islands, which China considers its territory. This is stated in the message of the Pentagon press service on January 23.

Defense Secretary Austin confirmed that Article 5 of the United States-Japan Security Treaty covers the Senkaku Islands and that the United States opposes any unilateral attempt to change the status quo in the East China Sea, the Pentagon said in a release.

Last fall, another exacerbation occurred between the United States and China due to territorial disputes.

The uninhabited archipelago, as the Japanese Senkaku and the Chinese Diaoyu call it, came under Japanese control in 1895, along with Taiwan, which was captured by Japanese forces after winning the war with Imperial China.

After World War II, the archipelago was under American occupation, then the United States transferred these territories to Japan. After the war, Tokyo renounced its rights to Taiwan, so Beijing believes that Japan should return the islands.

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