DIPLOMACY - Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's Visit to U.S.

"China Looms as Main Concern in Meeting Between Obama, Japan's Abe" PBS Newshour 2/22/2013

Excerpt

MARGARET WARNER (Newshour):  For Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, just two months in office, this visit to Washington was an early opportunity to emphasize Japan's alliance with the United States.

And at the White House today, he heard welcome words from President Obama.

PRESIDENT BARACK OBAMA:  The U.S.-Japan alliance is the central foundation for our regional security and so much of what we do in the Pacific region.

MARGARET WARNER:  The U.S. has a robust trading relationship with Japan and some 50,000 troops stationed there since the end of World War II.  And now both nations face the challenge of dealing with a rising China, and its new leader, Xi Jinping.

But U.S. officials are growing concerned about the rising tensions between China and Japan.  The most recent flare-up has come in the East China Sea over control of some small uninhabited islands known as the Diaoyu in China and Senkaku in Japan.  They lie near critical shipping lanes, fishing grounds and gas deposits.