“China Violates Japan’s Sovereignty in the East China Sea” Confronted by Prime Minister Kishida and Prime Minister Li Keqiang | Joongang Ilbo |

At the 17th East Asia Summit (EAS) held in Phnom Penh, Cambodia on the 13th, Prime Minister Fumio Kishida directly pointed to China and strongly criticized it for violating Japan’s sovereignty in the East China Sea. It is unusual for the Japanese prime minister to mention the country’s name and release a critical message at a multilateral meeting attended by representatives of China that he may have indicated that he was on the side of the United States. The meeting was attended by US President Joe Biden, Chinese Premier Li Keqiang and Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov.

According to the Japanese media on the 14th, Prime Minister Kishida said in a conference: “China’s activities that violate Japan’s sovereignty in the East China Sea continue to intensify, and in the South China Sea actions such as militarization and coercive activities increase the regional tensions. It still goes on,” he said. In addition, he hinted that some of the ballistic missiles launched by the Chinese military in August this year landed in Japan’s Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ), saying, “Peace and stability in the Taiwan Strait are also a important issue that is directly related to regional security. It’s a problem,” he said. He also expressed concern about the situation in Hong Kong and the human rights situation in the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region, according to Japanese media reports.

Prime Minister Kishida’s direct speech did not stop there. Regarding the Russian invasion of Ukraine, Prime Minister Kishida said: “Any attempt to unilaterally change the status quo by force will never be accepted anywhere in the world. The threat or use of nuclear weapons is an act of hostility against humanity”. deliver a clear message,” he said.

After that day’s meeting, Prime Minister Kishida told reporters, “Japan’s position is to affirm what should be affirmed.”

In relation to this, a Japanese diplomatic source said: “During the Abe administration, we have pursued a kind of ‘balanced diplomacy’ that emphasized the Japan-US alliance, while also trying to maintain some friendly relations with China and Russia”. However, with the rapid rise of China and the Russian invasion of Ukraine, the direction of Japanese diplomacy is changing to “integrate” with the United States and show its presence,” he said.

Chinese President Xi Jinping and Prime Minister Kishida will hold a summit in Thailand on the 17th. Chief Cabinet Secretary Hirokazu Matsuno announced on the 14th that President Xi and Prime Minister Kishida will meet in Bangkok on the 17th, where the summit will be held of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC). It will be the first time in about three years since the summit was held in December 2019 at the Korea-China-Japan summit in China.