A 2 + 2 meeting between US Secretary of State Antony Blinken, Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin and Japanese Foreign Minister Toshimitsu Motegi, Defense Minister Nobuo Kishi, will be held in Tokyo on March 16.
Report informs, citing the Japanese newspaper Nikkei, that the issue of China will be one of the main topics of discussion at the conference. The activity of the Chinese vessels in the Senkaku (Diaoyu) Island region has revived territorial disputes between Tokyo and Beijing.
The United States has long reaffirmed its commitment to Article 5 of the 1960 Agreement on Mutual Cooperation and Security, which provides for the defense of Japan, including the Senkaku Islands.
The last meeting in the "2 + 2" format took place in January 2019 in Washington. The March 16 conference will be the first such contact since US President Joseph Biden came to power.