CHINA/FOREIGN POLICY/JAPAN/NATIONAL SECURITY: “The U.S. is putting regional stability in East Asia at risk, a Chinese spokesman said Saturday following remarks by President Trump’s Defense secretary that a U.S. commitment to defend Japanese territory applies to an island group that China claims.
Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Lu Kang on Saturday called on the U.S. to avoid discussion of the issue and reasserted China’s claim of sovereignty over the tiny uninhabited islands, known in Japanese as the Senkaku and Chinese as Diaoyu.”
– Associated Press, “China lashes out at remarks by U.S. Defense Secretary James Mattis on the East China Sea islands,” The Los Angeles Times online, Feb. 4, 2017