U.S. Defense Secretary Jim Mattis, right, and Japanese Defense Minister Tomomi Inada, left, are escorted to inspect an honor guard at Defense Ministry in Tokyo, Saturday, Feb. 4, 2017. Mattis on Friday reassured two key U.S. treaty allies, South Korea and Japan, that President Donald Trump, who has raised doubts about the value of such partnerships, is fully committed to defending them. AP
BEIJING — China says the US is putting regional stability in East Asia at risk following remarks by Defense Secretary Jim Mattis that an island group China claims falls under the US-Japan mutual defense treaty.
Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman on Saturday called on the US to cease “making wrong remarks” over the issue. Lu reasserted China’s claim of sovereignty over the tiny uninhabited islands, known in Japanese as the Senkaku and Chinese as Diaoyu.
In a statement posted to the ministry’s website, Lu said the US should avoid complicating the issue and “bringing instability to the regional situation.”
The US Department of Defense quoted Mattis as telling Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe in a meeting Friday that their mutual defense treaty applied to all areas under Japanese administration, including the islands.