WASHINGTON – A top officer of the U.S. Navy reaffirmed Washington’s commitment to defending a group of Japan-administered islets in the East China Sea under a bilateral security treaty, while taking the rare step of naming China as a potential aggressor.
“We will clearly defend them if they are attacked by China,” Adm. Harry Harris, commander of U.S. Pacific Command, said Wednesday at a Washington think tank event, referring to the Senkakus, a group of islets also claimed by China.
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