At a joint news conference on April 24, US President Barack Obama reassured Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe that Article 5 of the US-Japan Treaty of Mutual Cooperation and Security covers all territories under Japan’s administration, including the Diaoyu Islands.

Vice-dean of the history department of Peking University, Wang Xinsheng, said Obama’s reassuring statement to Japan has double meanings - on one side it reaffirms Washington’s commitment to the allied countries in East Asia, and on the other Obama hopes to contain Japan’s rapid military development and hard line attitude which could cause instability in the region.

But Dean of the Foreign Affairs department at Beijing Foreign Affairs University, Zhang Lili, said Obama’s statement is of no help in solving the problem of the Diaoyu islands and could further intensify the regional conflict.

This is what America always does in East Asia, Zhang said. It hopes to realize its Asia-Pacific strategy through a US-Japan alliance. Obviously, Obama’s statement has no influence on China’s stance on the Diaoyu islands.

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