Washington, D.C. – U.S. Senators John McCain (R-AZ) and Jack Reed (D-RI), Chairman and Ranking Member of the Senate Armed Services Committee, and Senators Bob Corker (R-TN) and Ben Cardin (D-MD), Chairman and Ranking Member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, released the following statement today on China’s actions in the East China Sea: 

“As the international community awaits the International Tribunal on the Law of the Sea’s decision regarding China’s excessive maritime claims to the South China Sea, we are also concerned by Beijing’s recent action to unilaterally raise tensions in the East China Sea. We stand firmly by President Obama’s statement from April 2014 that the United States’ commitment to Japan’s security is absolute and Article 5 of our Treaty of Mutual Cooperation and Security covers all territories under Japan’s administration, including the Senkaku islands.”