U.S. Senate Resolution Backs Japan, Condemns China’s Pressure

Jiji Press

21:57 JST, December 18, 2025

WASHINGTON (Jiji Press) — Bipartisan U.S. senators on Wednesday introduced a resolution expressing support for Japan and condemning China’s economic and military pressure amid Tokyo-Beijing tensions over Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi’s remarks on a potential Taiwan contingency.

The resolution criticizes Beijing for exerting “economic, military and diplomatic coercion and aggression” against Japan.

It applauds Tokyo’s “efforts to diffuse tensions” amid what it calls China’s “continuous unilateral provocation.”

Also, the resolution recognizes Japan’s continuing role as “a key ally in maintaining a free and open Indo-Pacific” and reaffirms that Article 5 of the Japan-U.S. Treaty of Mutual Cooperation and Security applies to the Senkaku Islands in the southernmost Japan prefecture of Okinawa. China claims the Japanese-administrated islands in the East China Sea and calls them Diaoyu.

The measure was led by Sen. Pete Ricketts, the Republican chair of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee’s Subcommittee on East Asia, the Pacific and International Cybersecurity Policy, and Sen. Christopher Coons, a Democrat who is the panel’s ranking member.

Sen. Bill Hagerty, a Republican who previously served as U.S. ambassador to Japan, also joined as a cosponsor.

Separately, in the House of Representatives, Rep. Ami Bera and Gregory Meeks have sent a letter to President Donald Trump urging stronger U.S. support for Japan over the prime minister’s Taiwan-related remarks, including easing tariff-related pressures. The lawmakers are also exploring a bipartisan House resolution.