Summary The U.S. has joined Japan and other allies in refusing to recognize China's newly declared air zone.
TOKYO (AP) - U.S. Vice President Joe Biden is being pulled into a messy territorial spat between China and its neighbors as he meets with Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe (shin-zoh ah-bay) in Tokyo on Tuesday.
Japan is pressing the U.S. to more actively take its side in an escalating dispute over China s new air defense zone.
The U.S. has joined Japan and other allies in refusing to recognize China s newly declared air zone above a set of tiny, disputed islands. But Washington has treaded carefully, wary of creating more tensions just as the U.S. is pursuing a new era of economic cooperation with Beijing.
The meeting between Biden and Abe comes on the first full day of the vice president s weeklong trip to Japan, China and South Korea.
