Obama Assures Japan Of U.S. Security Commitment

President Obama, at the start of a four-stop trip to Asia, sought to reassure Japan that the U.S. is on its side in a dispute with China over the tiny Senkaku islands chain, which has led to bluster and naval jockeying between the two countries in recent years.

In a letter to Japan's Prime Minster Shinzo Abe that was published in the leading daily Yomiuri Shinbun, Obama said that the U.S. security policy with Tokyo "is clear."

Obama wrote that he opposes "unilateral attempts to undermine Japan's administration of these...