WASHINGTON (Kyodo) -- The United States on Thursday reconfirmed its commitment to Japan's defense as "unwavering" under their decades-old security treaty amid escalating tensions between its key Asian ally and China.
U.S. State Department spokesman Tommy Pigott made it clear on social media that the treaty covers the Japan-administered, China-claimed Senkaku Islands, located just 170 kilometers away from Taiwan.
Pigott's X post came as China, infuriated by Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi's recent remarks on Taiwan, ramps up pressure on Japan with the dispatch of coast guard vessels to waters near the uninhabited islets, travel warnings and moves to suspend imports of Japanese seafood.
"The U.S.-Japan Alliance remains the cornerstone of peace and security in the Indo-Pacific," he wrote. "We firmly oppose any unilateral attempts to change the status quo, including through force or coercion, in the Taiwan Strait, East China Sea, or South China Sea."
U.S. President Donald Trump has not extensively talked about Taiwan from a security perspective. Following his meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping late last month in South Korea, Trump told reporters that the self-ruled island China claims as part of its territory was not discussed.
China views Taiwan as a renegade province to be reunified with the mainland, by force if necessary, and Beijing has increased the scale and frequency of its military exercises around the democratic island.
Tensions between Japan and China have reached a boiling point since Takaichi said in parliament on Nov. 7 that a Chinese attack on Taiwan could amount to a "survival-threatening situation" for Japan, when asked about such a hypothetical situation by an opposition lawmaker.
Takaichi's statement was interpreted as suggesting that Japan could deploy its Self-Defense Forces, with Beijing, which views Taiwan as a purely internal issue, reacting sharply.
