MOSCOW – Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga has held a phone conversation with US president-elect Joe Biden, with the latter reaffirming American commitment to support Tokyo’s claims to the disputed Senkaku islands.
According to the Sputnik news agency, quoting the Kyodo outlet, Suga also congratulated Biden on his election victory over Donald Trump.
The leaders agreed to coordinate efforts on global challenges, such as fighting the Covid-19 pandemic and climate change.
Both Japan and China have extended territorial claims over the Senkaku islands, which are known as the Diaoyu islands in China.
Japan insists on its sovereignty over the islands, effective since 1895, while China points to the 1783 and 1785 Japanese maps designating the islands as Chinese territory.
After World War II, the Senkaku islands went under the control of the US, and were later passed to Japan in 1972.
Japan believes that China’s sovereignty claims over the islands follow the discovery of valuable minerals in their shelf water in the 1970s.
The dispute escalated in 2012, when the Japanese government bought three of the five islands from their private owner, thus establishing Tokyo’s sovereign ownership.– Bernama, November 12, 2020
