U.S. Avoids Taking Sides over Japan-China Tensions

Washington, Dec. 11 (Jiji Press)–The administration of U.S. President Donald Trump on Thursday avoided taking sides over rising tensions between Japan and China over Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi’s remarks on a possible Taiwan contingency. Trump “believes that the United States should be in a position to have a good working relationship with China while maintaining our very strong alliance with Japan,” White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt told a press conference. Leavitt said that Takaichi and Trump have built a favorable relationship. “Japan is a great ally of the United States as evidenced by their (Takaichi and Trump’s) personal relationship and our continued trade relationship,” she said. Meanwhile, the press secretary said that Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping have a “good working relationship,” which the U.S. president “believes is a good thing” for the United States. Washington and Beijing are in the middle of trade negotiations, including on possible Chinese purchases of U.S. soybeans. Trump is believed to be distancing himself from the Japan-China spat out of consideration for Beijing, as he wants to claim an achievement ahead of next year’s U.S. midterm elections. Takaichi said last month that China’s possible use of force against Taiwan could constitute a so-called survival-threatening situation for Japan, in which the country can exercise its right to collective self-defense. END [Copyright The Jiji Press, Ltd.]