Osaka Mayor Toru Hashimoto on Wednesday sought to clarify his remarks on a system to recruit women into sexual servitude for Japan's soldiers during World War II, saying he personally does not condone the scheme. Two days after he made controversial remarks that the so-called comfort women were "necessary to maintain discipline" in the Japanese military, Hashimoto told reporters he simply stated a fact that people at the time had that kind of view.

China said Tuesday its maritime baseline claims around the Japanese-administered Senkaku Islands in the East China Sea are consistent with international law, dismissing a U.S. government report stating otherwise. China's activities "are consistent with the spirit of the U.N. Convention on the Law of the Sea," Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying said at a press conference.

Members of a Japan-Taiwan joint fisheries committee met for the first time in Taipei on Tuesday to discuss issues yet to be decided, including fishing in waters not yet covered by a bilateral fisheries agreement such as waters 12 nautical miles surrounding the Japanese-administered Senkaku Islands. Diplomatic officials said the meeting, held at the Ambassador Hotel in downtown Taipei, could extend until Wednesday if necessary as fishermen in Okinawa Prefecture also attend.

White House National Security Adviser Tom Donilon said Wednesday that the United States "firmly opposes" coercion to promote territorial claims in the South and East China Seas. Although Donilon did not refer to a specific country in his speech in New York, his remarks are apparently aimed at warning against aggressive behavior by China in the region. "The promise of offshore energy resources is contributing to tensions in the South and East China Seas that will test East Asia's political and security architecture," Donilon said.