HONG KONG (Kyodo) The United States does not recognize any claims regarding the sovereignty of the Senkaku Islands in the East China Sea, which are administered by Japan but claimed by both China and Taiwan, an adviser to President Barack Obama said Friday.
"The U.S. does not have position on the question of sovereignty regarding the issue of the Diaoyu Islands," said Benjamin Rhodes, deputy national security adviser for strategic communications in the White House, using China's name for the islets.
Rhodes, who was speaking in a video conference with Chinese bloggers set up by the U.S. Embassy in Beijing, was responding to a blogger who questioned the United States taking the side of Japan on the issue by including the islets under the Japan-U.S. security treaty.