TOKYO (Kyodo) -- Defense Minister Nobuo Kishi and his newly appointed U.S. counterpart Lloyd Austin agreed Sunday the Senkaku Islands fall under the two allies' security treaty, giving Japan reassurance that the U.S. position on the Japanese-controlled, Chinese-claimed islets remains intact under the new administration of President Joe Biden.
Speaking by phone, Kishi and Austin, who was sworn in as defense secretary on Friday, pledged to further strengthen the Japan-U.S. alliance and safeguard peace and security in the Indo-Pacific region.
