US ambassador to Japan visits southern islands at the forefront of China tension

By MARI YAMAGUCHI
Associated Press

TOKYO (AP) — The U.S. ambassador to Japan has stressed the importance of increased deterrence and his country’s commitment to its key ally as he visited two southwestern Japanese islands at the forefront of Tokyo’s tension with Beijing. Rahm Emanuel on Friday visited Yonaguni, Japan’s westernmost island just east of Taiwan, a self-governed island also claimed by China. He later visited another Japanese island, Ishigaki, home to Japan Coast Guard patrol boats defending the disputed East China Sea islands and Japanese fishermen from armed Chinese coast guard ships that routinely enter Japanese waters. Japan is further accelerating its military buildup under a 2022 security strategy that focuses on counter-strike capability with long-range cruise missiles.