WASHINGTON, Dec 11 (Reuters) - U.S. President Donald Trump can maintain both a "good working relationship" with China and a "very strong alliance" with Japan even as tensions have risen between those two countries, the White House said on Thursday.
"Japan is a great ally of the United States as evidenced by their personal relationship and our continued trade relations with Japan," said White House spokeswoman Karoline Leavitt at a press briefing.
"With respect to China, the president also has a good working relationship with President Xi, which he believes is a good thing for our country, and he believes that the United States should be in a position to have a good working relationship with China while maintaining our very strong alliance with Japan."
(Reporting by Andrea Shalal and Trevor Hunnicutt; Editing by Chris Reese)
