美國防部長:美日將擴大防務合作

U.S. Defense Secretary Ashton Carter vowed to expand defense collaboration with Japan, as he held talks with his Japanese counterparts Wednesday in Tokyo.

Carter is on the first day of a three-day visit during which the two sides will renegotiate the defense coop-eration guidelines between Washington and Tokyo.

The trip is also meant to highlight the two countries' long-standing military alliance, a key part of the White House's attempts to refocus its priorities on Asia.

Speaking alongside Japanese Defense Minister General Nakatani, Carter said he was "committed to overseeing the next phase" of the so-called rebalance.

During his talks with Nakatani, Carter also said he "confirmed" the U.S. stance on the East China Sea islands that are at the center of a dispute with China.

"I also reaffirmed President Obama's July 2014 commitment to apply our security treaty to all areas under Japanese administration and our continued strong opposition to any unilateral coercive action that seeks to undermine Japan's administrative control of the Senkaku Islands," he said.美國國防部長卡特星期三在東京與日本防務官員會談時保證，美國將擴大與日本在防務領域的合作。

星期三是卡特三天訪日行程的第一天。訪問期間，雙方將重新商討華盛頓和東京之間的防務合作指針。

卡特此次訪日還突顯了美日兩國之間的長期軍事同盟關係。這是白宮重返亞洲戰略的重要組成部分。

卡特說，他將致力於實施這一再平衡戰略的下階段使命。卡特說這番話時，日本防衛大臣中谷元站在他的身旁。

卡特與中谷元會談時還表示，他證實美國在東中國海問題上的立場。東中國海島嶼之爭是日中關係的焦點。

卡特說：“我還要重申總統奧巴馬2014年7月的承諾。我們的安保條約適用於所有日本政府管轄下的領域。我們繼續強烈反對任何單方面強制性破壞日本對尖閣列島行政控制的行動”。