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April 23, 2014 12:18 AM
TOKYO — U.S. President Barack Obama has arrived in Japan for a weeklong tour of Asia. The visit aims to reassure allies who are nervous about U.S. defense cutbacks as China moves to expand its influence in the region.
Security concerns over China's territorial claims and North Korea's nuclear program will be a major focus of President Obama's trip, which includes stops in Japan, South Korea, Malaysia, and the Philippines.
President Obama began the first full day of his state visit to Japan Thursday with a call on Emperor Akihito at the Imperial Palace.
Obama was greeted at the park-like complex by a military honor guard, and children holding U.S. and Japanese flags. The president also had a private meeting with the emperor.
The eight-day tour began in Tokyo with a meeting with Prime Minister Shinzo Abe.
It was nearly three years ago that the Obama administration announced what it called the "Asia pivot." The term described a shift in foreign policy focus to Asia as the administration concluded wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.
But Asian allies have seen few U.S. military resources shifted to the region as the United States makes defense cuts, all while China builds up its military and pushes to gain control of more of the East and South China Seas.
China is not one of the stops on the trip, but is on the minds of Obama and his Japanese allies, who are locked in a territorial dispute with Beijing over a group of small islands in the East China Sea.
FILE - A group of disputed islands, Uotsuri island (top), Minamikojima (bottom) and Kitakojima, known as Senkaku in Japan and Diaoyu in China is seen in the East China Sea, in this photo taken by Kyodo September 2012.
FILE - A group of disputed islands, Uotsuri island (top), Minamikojima (bottom) and Kitakojima, known as Senkaku in Japan and Diaoyu in China is seen in the East China Sea, in this photo taken by Kyodo September 2012.
Those islands, known in Japan as the Senkaku and in China as the Diaoyu, are at the heart of Japan's concerns about the U.S. commitment to defend Japan.
The United States says it will not take sides in the dispute. But prior to landing in Tokyo, President Obama told the Japanese newspaper Yomiuri Shimbun the islands fall under the U.S. mutual defense treaty with Japan, indicating the United States would defend Japan if China attacks and tries to take the islands by force. Obama said the United States opposes unilateral attempts to undermine Japan's administration of the islands.
Security concerns over China's territorial claims and North Korea's nuclear program will be a major focus of President Obama's trip, which includes stops in Japan, South Korea, Malaysia, and the Philippines.
President Obama began the first full day of his state visit to Japan Thursday with a call on Emperor Akihito at the Imperial Palace.
Obama was greeted at the park-like complex by a military honor guard, and children holding U.S. and Japanese flags. The president also had a private meeting with the emperor.
The eight-day tour began in Tokyo with a meeting with Prime Minister Shinzo Abe.
It was nearly three years ago that the Obama administration announced what it called the "Asia pivot." The term described a shift in foreign policy focus to Asia as the administration concluded wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.
But Asian allies have seen few U.S. military resources shifted to the region as the United States makes defense cuts, all while China builds up its military and pushes to gain control of more of the East and South China Seas.
China is not one of the stops on the trip, but is on the minds of Obama and his Japanese allies, who are locked in a territorial dispute with Beijing over a group of small islands in the East China Sea.
FILE - A group of disputed islands, Uotsuri island (top), Minamikojima (bottom) and Kitakojima, known as Senkaku in Japan and Diaoyu in China is seen in the East China Sea, in this photo taken by Kyodo September 2012.
The United States says it will not take sides in the dispute. But prior to landing in Tokyo, President Obama told the Japanese newspaper Yomiuri Shimbun the islands fall under the U.S. mutual defense treaty with Japan, indicating the United States would defend Japan if China attacks and tries to take the islands by force. Obama said the United States opposes unilateral attempts to undermine Japan's administration of the islands.
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