- Cross-strait peace and stability important – Japan’s Kishida
- China Takes Measures That Increase Regional Tensions – Kishida
- Repeated missile launches by North Korea unacceptable
Nov 13 (Portal) – Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida told Asian leaders on Sunday that China is continuously and increasingly taking measures that violate Japan’s sovereignty and escalate tensions in the region.
Speaking at the East Asia Summit in Cambodia, Kishida said ensuring peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait is important for regional security and expressed “serious concerns” about the human rights situation of Uyghurs, according to a statement from Japan’s foreign ministry.
“There have been continued and increasing actions by China in the East China Sea that violate Japan’s sovereignty. China also continues to take measures that increase regional tensions in the South China Sea,” Kishida told the meeting, according to the statement.
Kishida’s comments follow those of US President Joe Biden, who told Asian leaders the importance of peace across the Taiwan Strait and ensuring freedom of navigation in the South China Sea.
Kishida reiterated that North Korea’s “extremely frequent” ballistic missile launches since last month, including one that overflyed Japan, are a “clear and serious challenge” to the international community and are therefore unacceptable.
China denies any abuse of the Uyghurs, a predominantly Muslim ethnic minority based in the far western region of Xinjiang, and has sent a government delegation to Geneva to counter alleged flawed findings by the United Nations Legal Office.
Kishida is in Cambodia to attend the East Asia Summit, which brings together 18 countries that make up half of the world economy, including the top three economies — the United States, China and Japan — and Southeast Asian nations. He will also attend the G20 summit in Bali, Indonesia, which begins on Tuesday.
Reporting by Ju-min Park in Seoul and Leika Kihara in Bali; Edited by Clarence Fernandez, Ana Nicolaci da Costa and William Mallard
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