The Trump administration has assured Tokyo that it will defend the Senkaku Islands, which are disputed between Japan, China, and Taiwan, as stipulated by Article 5 of the US-Japan Security Treaty.
The much-needed reassurance came after a 40-minute phone call between Japanese Defense Minister General Nakatani and the newly-elected US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth.
Nakatani described Hegseth’s remarks as a display of the “unwavering US commitment to defending Japan.”
Much like that of NATO, Article 5 of the US-Japan security treaty states: “Each Party recognizes that an armed attack against either Party in the territories under the administration of Japan would be dangerous to its peace and safety and declares that it would act to meet the common danger by its constitutional provisions and processes.”
Earlier, when Japanese Foreign Minister Takeshi Iwaya met with his US counterpart, Marco Rubio, a day after President Trump’s inauguration, he did not commit to the defense of Senkaku under Article 5. This makes the latest assurance from Hegseth more significant.
General Nakatani told reporters that there are no changes to the US-Japan security treaty for now. “It was very meaningful that we agreed upon the significance of the Japan-U.S. alliance and that persistent effort by our two nations to strengthen deterrence capabilities is indispensable to the peace and stability of the region,” he added.
The Senkaku Islands are a group of islands in the East China Sea under the Japanese administration. The islands are situated north of the southwestern tip of the Ryukyu Islands and west of Okinawa Islands of Japan, east of China, west of Okinawa Island, and northeast of Taiwan.
The islands are disputed by all three countries. They are known as the Diaoyu Islands in China and the Diaoyutai Islands in Taiwan. Notably, Taiwan has not renounced its claims over the island despite having close relations with Japan.
If China or even Taiwan launches an armed attack on the Senkaku Islands, Article 5 of the treaty will be automatically invoked, and the US will enter the war in support of Japan.
While Taiwan is unlikely to attack Japanese territory due to its reliance on the US and Japan against Chinese aggression, China’s expansionist maneuvers are believed to be a persistent threat to Japan, thus making a US security assurance critical for Tokyo.
The Senkaku Dispute Continues
Japan held control of the islands from 1895 until its capitulation at the end of World War II. The islands were governed by the United States from 1945 until 1972, when the Okinawa Reversion Agreement was signed, paving the way for the return of the islands to the Japanese government.
Both China and Taiwan contend that they have had ownership of the island since the fourteenth century when it was part of Taiwan as part of Toucheng Township in Yilan County.
Taiwan states that the island belonged to what was the former Republic of China (now People’s Republic of China) since the Ming Dynasty. However, China does not consider Taiwanese claims as it considers the self-ruled island state as its own sovereign territory.
Japan maintains that the Senkakus are its territory, citing historical and international legal grounds to support its claim.
The Japanese Ministry of Foreign Ministry says: “In January 1895, after having carefully ascertained that there had been no trace of control over the Senkaku Islands by another state before that period, the Government of Japan incorporated the islands into the Japanese territory by lawful means under the international legal framework which existed at that time.”
Japan claims that while the Chinese government did not challenge Japan’s sovereignty over them for about 75 years, its position started to change in the 1970s when the islands gained a lot of attention because of the possible presence of oil deposits in the East China Sea.
In 2012, tensions escalated when Beijing interpreted Tokyo’s purchase of several of the islands from a private Japanese owner as a direct challenge to its claims to sovereignty.
Since then, China has been trying to unilaterally change the status quo around the Senkaku Islands, a move that is fiercely condemned and opposed by Japan.
Chinese coast guard vessels harass Japanese fishing boats operating near the Senkaku Islands. In one instance, Chinese vessels sailed on a Japanese fishing boat’s tail for 27 hours and came as close as 40-50 meters from its stern.
Chinese Coast Guard vessels operate almost daily in the contiguous zone, which extends for 12 nautical miles beyond the territorial sea. These ships intrude into the territorial sea around the Senkakus about three times per month.
Reports in May 2024 indicated that Chinese Coast Guard ships armed with machine guns were in waters around the islands for a record 158 consecutive days.
A contiguous zone is a region 12 nautical miles from the coast that extends beyond a nation’s territorial waters. Technically, the Chinese Coast Guard did not violate any international accords because foreign warships are permitted in contiguous zone seas. However, Japan viewed the persistent presence of Chinese vessels as provocative.
The 158-day streak surpassed the previous record set in 2021 when Chinese ships were observed in the vicinity for 157 consecutive days until a typhoon forced their retreat.
China’s military activity near the disputed islands is believed to be part of its ‘gray zone’ tactics. In this strategy, China attempts to wear down its enemy by launching confrontations short of war and establishing a localized advantage for itself over a prolonged period of time. Military experts fear that this could snowball into a full-blown armed conflict.
Last year, former Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida also discussed these concerns with Chinese Premier Li Qiang. “We will continue to take every possible precaution and surveillance around the Senkaku Islands with a sense of urgency,” he reportedly told journalists. However, this has done little to change Chinese designs in the region.
To counter the threat, Japan has undertaken its biggest-ever military modernization since WWII and continues to strengthen military cooperation with the United States.
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