US Secretary of State, Marco Rubio, said America will maintain a strong alliance with Japan while building on constructive relations with China.
Speaking at the State Department’s year-end news conference that reflected on 2025, he made the comments amid soaring tensions between Tokyo and Beijing following remarks made by Japanese Prime Minister, Takaichi Sanae, about Taiwan in the Parliament, called the National Diet.
On Takaichi’s warning to Beijing against any using any military force against Taiwan, Rubio said tensions between China and Taiwan were “pre-existing”, and that the “US understands that one of the dynamics has to be balanced in the region”.
“We feel very comfortable in saying that we can continue our strong, firm and balanced partnership in Japan and do so in a way that continues to allow us to find ways to work together with China,” he said.
China, said Rubio, will continue to be a rich and powerful country, adding that the US “has to have relations with them” and that “we have to deal with them”.
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Political observers say the US will have to walk the tightrope when it comes to balancing its relations with both China and Japan, especially since Takaichi told China that a contingency involving the use of force against Taiwan would be considered as an “existential threat to Japan’s survival”.
Since then, Takaichi seems to have moderated her tone when it comes to commenting on China, especially after the latter demanded a retraction and an unconditional apology, saying the Japanese Prime Minister’s remarks were provocative, unacceptable and could lead to a direct war in the region.
The Japanese foreign ministry has reaffirmed the consistency of its position while noting that such comments would be avoided in future.
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