MOSCOW, October 1 (RIA Novosti) — In a discussion with the think tank CFR (the Council on Foreign Relations), US Deputy Secretary of Defense Robert Work stated the United States would support Japan were the Senkaku Islands in the East China Sea subject to seizure.
“…the United States has said over and over that we take no position as to whether — who has the long-term control of islands either in the East China Sea or in the Senkakus. But while the Senkakus are under Japanese control, Article 5 applies, and we would respond if there was an attempt to take the Senkakus, and we would support our Japanese allies,” reads the transcript of the discussion published on CFR’s website Tuesday.
When asked if the United States would take a military stance should such a situation arise, Work said that it would depend on the situation, but the US support for Japan, currently in administrative charge of the islands, would not decline.
"It would depend upon the circumstances of what would happen, but we would definitely respond and try to maintain — I mean, support our Japanese allies, retaining administrative control of the Senkakus," he stated.
The official also stated that the Unites States is currently cooperating with Japan to update the defense guidelines.
The Senkaku Islands are a group of unpopulated islands in the East China Sea. The islands can be described as being situated east of China, northeast of Taiwan, west of Japan’s Okinawa Island and north of the southwestern end of the Ryukyu Islands. The islands are reported to represent a strategically important place among competing powers.
