U.S. reiterates stance that treaty with Japan extends to Senkakus

TAIPEI, Feb. 28 Kyodo -
The United States reiterated Saturday that the U.S.-Japan Security Treaty
extends to the Japanese-administered Senkaku Islands, as Japan, China and
Taiwan traded barbs over sovereignty over the East China Sea islets.
''The Treaty of Mutual Cooperation and Security signed by Tokyo and Washington
in 1960, which states that it applies to the territories under the
administration of Japan, does apply to the island,'' said Larry Walker, a
spokesman for the American Institute in Taiwan, the de facto U.S. embassy in
Taipei.
But Walker said the United States reserves judgment on ultimate sovereignty of
the islands, which have been under Japanese administrative control since the
reversion of Okinawa to Japan from U.S. administrative rule in 1972.
''U.S. does not take a position on the ultimate sovereignty of the islands. We
expect the claimants to resolve the issue through peaceful means and among
themselves,'' he said.
The comments came as China expressed Thursday ''strong dissatisfaction'' over
remarks by Japanese Prime Minister Taro Aso that Japan and the United States
will work together to deal with any attack by a third country on the disputed
islets, claimed by China, Japan and Taiwan.
The islets are Japan's territory and thus subject to the security alliance
between Japan and the United States, Aso said.
''The islets are China's territory, and China holds indisputable sovereignty
over them,'' Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Ma Zhaoxu said in a statement
posted on the ministry's website.
Taiwan also slammed Aso's remarks, with its Foreign Ministry saying Friday the
islets are part of its territory.
The islets, whose surrounding waters are rich in fish and possibly oil and
natural gas deposits under the seabed, are a longstanding bone of contention
between Beijing, Tokyo and Taipei.
Beijing refers to them as the Diaoyudai, while Taipei calls them the Tiaoyutai.
==Kyodo