Biden urges Japan, China to ease tension

Japan and China need more sophisticated communication strategies if they are to work through their territorial row, US Vice President Joe Biden said yesterday as he vowed Washington would stand by Tokyo.
Biden, in Tokyo at the start of a three-nation tour of Asia, said he will be talking “in great specificity” with Chinese leaders about the row over Beijing’s declaration last month of an air defence zone in the East China Sea.
“This underscores the need for crisis management mechanisms and effective channels of communication between China and Japan to reduce risk of escalation,” he told a joint press conference with Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe.
“I will be raising these concerns in great specificity directly when I meet with the Chinese leadership the day after tomorrow,” he said.