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US-Japan alliance ‘cornerstone’ of regional stability: Mattis
TOKYO, June 29, 2018 (BSS/AFP) – The US-Japan alliance is vital to peace
in Asia and Washington remains committed to the partnership as it pursues
diplomacy with North Korea, US Defence Secretary James Mattis said in Tokyo
Friday.
Mattis, speaking after talks with his Japanese counterpart, also pledged
Washington would maintain a “strong collaborative defensive stance”
regionally despite halting joint military drills with South Korea.
“The US-Japan alliance is a cornerstone of Indo-Pacific stability and our
commitment to this alliance remains ironclad,” Mattis said alongside Japan’s
Defence Minister Itsunori Onodera.
He said Washington was pausing its joint exercises with South Korea “to
create space for our diplomats to negotiate strongly and increase the
prospect for a peaceful solution on the peninsula.”
“At the same time, we maintain a strong collaborative defensive stance, to
ensure our diplomats continue to negotiate from a position of unquestioned
strength.”
Washington’s decision to halt the exercises after an unprecedented summit
between US President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un
surprised officials and observers in the region.
US officials have tried to calm fears that the move suggested a weakening
of Washington’s commitment to the security of its regional allies,
particularly Japan and South Korea.
Mattis is in Tokyo Friday on the third leg of a regional trip that has
taken him to China and South Korea.
In Seoul he told officials that Washington’s commitment to South Korea
“remains ironclad,” and said that included “maintaining the current US force
levels on the Korean peninsula.”
BSS/AFP/MRI/0838 hrs