U.S. Mattis in Asia: Fears Soothed But Uncertainty Remains

James Mattie:-US defence secretary, said during a visit to Asia that there was no need for “dramatic military moves” in the South China Sea to pressure Beijing to stop construction on a series of maritime features in the contested resource-rich waters. Speaking in Tokyo after a visit to South Korea and Japan, Mr Mattis stressed the US should pursue diplomatic efforts to urge China to stop its controversial activities in the South China Sea.

He said that although the US would continue to conduct freedom of navigation exercises in international waters, “we do not see any need for dramatic military moves”.

“What we have to do is exhaust all diplomatic efforts to try and resolve this properly and maintain open lines of communication,” Mr Mattis said at a joint press conference with Tomomi Inada, the Japanese defence minister. “Certainly our military stands to be one that reinforces our diplomats in this regard. [But] there is no need now at this time for military manoeuvres or something like that, that would solve something that is best solved by diplomats.”

The comments by Mr Mattis suggest that the retired four-star Marine general advocates a less assertive strategy for the South China Sea than Rex Tillerson, the newly confirmed secretary of state. In his confirmation hearing, Mr Tillerson angered China by suggesting that the US should consider blocking Chinese ships from accessing the disputed areas of the South China Sea.

In his first overseas visit as Donald Trump’s defence secretary, Mr Mattis made clear that the Trump administration intended to continue the policy pursued by previous US governments to come to the defence of Japan in the case of an attack on the Senkaku Islands, which are administered by Japan but claimed by China, which calls them the Diaoyu. “I made clear that our longstanding policy on the Senkaku Islands stands. The US will continue to recognise Japanese administration of the islands and as such Article 5 of the US-Japan Security Treaty applies,” Mr Mattis said.

Barack Obama restated that policy — which dates back to 1972 — when he visited Japan as president in 2014. But the credibility of the pledge to fight for the East China Sea islands is always in doubt and Japan likes to hear it afresh from each new administration. Fumio Kishida, the Japanese foreign minister, welcomed Mr Mattis’s comments, but hinting at fears that Mr Trump might not have the same view as his defence minister, Mr Kishida said Tokyo would seek to confirm US protection for the islands “on various occasions”.

China described the US-Japan security treaty as a relic of the cold-war. “We call on the US to take a responsible attitude, to stop making incorrect statements about the Diaoyu islands’ sovereignty, and stop using this issue to complicate the overall situation and bring instability to the region,” the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said.

Mr Mattis was speaking on the final day of his visit to South Korea and Japan, which was aimed at reassuring the US allies that the new administration was committed to their security partnerships. Both nations grew nervous during the US presidential race when Mr Trump suggested that he might withdraw US troops from Japan and the Korean peninsula.

The Pentagon chief, who met Japanese prime minister Shinzo Abe on Thursday, said he made clear to the Japanese government that the Trump administration “places a high priority on this region, and specifically on long-term allies like Japan”. During the campaign, Mr Trump said Japan and South Korea did not pay their fair share of the cost of their collective defence, but Mr Mattis used his visit to praise Japan as a “model” partner in terms of sharing the cost burden.

“Japan has been a model on cost sharing and burden sharing,” said Mr Mattis. “We have constant dialogue about this, we talk though the details, but we can point to our Japanese-American cost-sharing approach as an example that other nations can follow.”

The main topic of discussion during the visit was North Korea, which already has the capability to fire missiles at Japan, and is moving closer to developing nuclear-armed missiles that could reach the US mainland. The White House last week launched a North Korea policy review to attempt to tackle the belligerent regime in Pyongyang. Mr Trump has stated that the US would not allow North Korea to develop that capability, which has sparked some speculation that the US might consider a pre-emptive strike on North Korea. That prospect worries Japan and South Korea because of the ease with North Korea could retaliate by firing a barrage of missiles at its two neighbours.

Asked how the Abe administration would react if the US was considering a pre-emptive strike on North Korea, Ms Inada said the US, Japan and South Korea needed to take measures — from creating missile defence shields to trilateral co-operation — to face down the threat from North Korea. “We have to make sure that this kind of a situation will not happen,” said Ms Inada. “The US has a strike capability and this is a deterrence.”

In private, senior Japanese officials have said one of their biggest fears is that Mr Trump could act unilaterally against North Korea, leaving them to face retaliation. One of their biggest early priorities has been to extract promises of consultation from the Trump administration. Tokyo is completely against any military action against North Korea. If Mr Trump wants to talk to Pyongyang, Japan is not necessarily opposed, but wants to hear the likely benefit of such talks.