“Tight Japanese Security Measures Following Explosive Attack at Election Rally”

Relations with China and the war in Ukraine dominated the G7 foreign ministers’ meetings in Japan yesterday.
The delegations arrived at the Karuizawa resort from Tokyo on board the high-speed Japanese train “Shinkansen”, amid tight security after an explosive device was thrown during an election rally attended by Prime Minister Fumio Kishida. The meeting of foreign ministers, which lasts three days, paves the way for the summit of heads of state of the Group of Seven countries, which is scheduled to be held in May in Hiroshima.
East Asia has dominated the diplomatic agenda in recent days, especially after North Korea launched Thursday a “new type” of solid-fuel intercontinental ballistic missiles. A few days earlier, China conducted military maneuvers around Taiwan, which included a simulation of blockading the island, which it considers an integral part of its territory. The Group of Seven warned Beijing against any attempt to change the status quo by force with regard to Taiwan.
“We have an interest in peace and stability prevailing in the Taiwan Strait,” European Union Foreign Minister Josep Borrell told reporters, yesterday via video, after he tested positive for the coronavirus this week, according to Agence France-Presse.
On Ukraine, Japan sees the seven talks as an opportunity to confirm its conviction that the Russian invasion only serves to reinforce the need for increased vigilance in Asia. Kishida had warned that “Asia could be the Ukraine of tomorrow.”