JAPAN, U.S. AFFIRM SECURITY TREATY OVER SENKAKU ISLANDS

Japan and the United States plan to put out a joint statement by Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga and President Joe Biden at a summit next month saying the Senkaku Islands in the East China Sea fall under the scope of their security treaty, a Japanese government source said Friday.

The move over the Japan-controlled islands could further strain relations between the United States and China, as Washington and its allies seek to counter Beijing's growing assertiveness in surrounding waters, according to a Kyodo News report

Suga and Biden are expected to affirm in the statement that Article 5 of the 1960 security treaty, which states the United States will defend territories under Japan's administration from armed attack, apply to the uninhabited group of islets, claimed by China, according to the source.

China often sends ships near the Senkakus, which it calls Diaoyu, despite Japan's protests, and is also embroiled in a series of territorial disputes in the South China Sea. The introduction last month of a law allowing the Chinese coast guard to fire on vessels intruding in what it considers its waters has further worried neighboring countries.

The meeting in Washington early next month will be Biden's first with a foreign leader since taking office in January, something that Japanese officials see as a sign of the new administration's commitment to efforts to realize a free and open Indo-Pacific region. Japan is a major U.S. ally, hosting some 55,000 U.S. military personnel.

Suga has said he hopes to discuss North Korea with Biden, after Pyongyang fired two ballistic missiles off its east coast on Thursday, the first such launch in a year, and as denuclearization talks remain at a standstill.

The leaders are also likely to discuss measures against COVID-19 as well as climate change.

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