Rubio Seeks to Balance Relations With Japan, China; Says China Will Continue to Be ‘Factor in Geopolitics’

By Takayuki Fuchigami / Yomiuri Shimbun Correspondent

17:13 JST, December 21, 2025

WASHINGTON — U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio said Friday that the United States was determined to maintain its relationship with Japan in a manner that also allowed the United States to cooperate with China.

“We [the United States] feel very strongly that we can continue with our strong, firm partnership and alliance with Japan and do so in a way that continues to allow us to find productive ways to work together with [the] Chinese,” Rubio said at a press conference on the day.

Rubio was speaking about the U.S. response to worsening Japan-U.S. relations and apparently sought not to provoke China, in consideration of U.S. President Donald Trump’s desire to seek stable relations with Beijing.

Asked if he condemned China’s recent “provocative actions against Japan” in connection with such incidents as Chinese military aircraft directing radar at Air Self-Defense Force fighter jets, Rubio said only: “I think these [Japan-China] tensions are pre-existing. We understand that’s one of the dynamics that has to be balanced in that region.”

“China is … and it will continue to be a rich and powerful country and a factor in geopolitics,” he said.

Rubio also emphasized the need for the United States and China to balance tensions and cooperation.

“Because I think if there’s a global challenge that China and the U.S. can work together on … I think we can solve it,” he said.