6/12/2009

(RTTNews) -  President Barack Obama's top State Department nominee for East Asia and Pacific said that the rise of China had enormous implications for the United States but more directly and more urgently, in the short term, for Japan, reports say.

Appearing for confirmation hearings before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee Thursday, Kurt Campbell, nominee for the post of Assistant Secretary of State for

East Asian and Pacific Affairs, said: "I think that's sometimes been difficult for our Japanese friends, as it has been for the United States."

In his prepared statement, he said U.S.-China relationship was complex, it was developing rapidly and it was one of the most consequential of U.S.'s bilateral relationships.

"China's rise as an economic power and its growing political and diplomatic influence are developments with global, and not merely regional, ramifications," he said.

He said the best way to confront a resurgent China was to build the strongest possible partnership with long-time ally Japan and for the Japanese to know that the U.S. was solidly behind them.

He said the U.S. supported Japan's strong role not only in the region but globally, but also to underscore to them that it shared similar goals about what Washingtin looked for, in terms of China's evolution into a great power.