Obama backs Japan in China island row

US President Barack Obama yesterday vowed to defend Japan if China attacks over a tense territorial dispute, but also urged Beijing to step in to thwart North Korea's "dangerous" nuclear march.
In Tokyo on the first leg of his Asian tour, Obama stopped short however of fully endorsing Japanese sovereignty over disputed East China Sea islands, keeping one eye on Beijing where his trip is being weighed for any hint of US hostility.
Hopes that Obama's trip would revive the stalled Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) meanwhile looked doomed when there was little progress on one of the key sticking points -- US access to the Japanese auto market -- after his talks with Japan's Prime Minister Shinzo Abe.
After flying into a region boiling with tension, Obama carefully underlined US support for Japan's security, saying that islands at the centre of its feud with Beijing are covered by a defence treaty that would oblige Washington to act if they were attacked.
"Article five (of the US-Japan security treaty) covers all territories under Japan's administration including (the) Senkaku islands," he said, referring to the archipelago which Beijing calls the Diaoyus.
Along with Manila -- the fourth stop on Obama's tour -- Tokyo craved reassurance that Washington was prepared to support it if push comes to shove with Beijing over their separate sovereignty rows.
Relations between Tokyo and Beijing are at their lowest point for years. Some observers warn they might come to blows over the islands, where ships from both sides lurk to press claims for ownership.