TOKYO (AP) —

The U.S. Ambassador to Japan stressed Friday the importance of increased deterrence and his country’s commitment to the alliance with its key ally as he visited two southwestern Japanese islands at the forefront of Tokyo’s tension with Beijing.

Japan has been making a southwest shift of its defense posture, and is further accelerating its military buildup under the 2022 security strategy which focuses on counter-strike capability with long-range cruise missiles.

Highlighting their solid alliance in the Indo-Pacific, Rahm Emanuel visited Yonaguni, Japan’s westernmost island just east of Taiwan, a self-governed island also claimed by China. He later visited another Japanese island Ishigaki, home to Japan Coast Guard patrol boats defending the disputed East China Sea island s and Japanese fishermen from armed Chinese coast guard ships that routinely enter Japanese waters.