Tokyo, 5 August, /AJMEDIA/
Prime Minister Fumio Kishida and U.S. House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi agreed Friday to jointly work to ensure peace and stability in the Taiwan Strait, after her visit to the self-ruled island prompted an angered China to respond with military drills, spiking regional tensions.
A day after five Chinese ballistic missiles fell within Japan’s exclusive economic zone, Kishida strongly criticized China’s behavior in his meeting with Pelosi, saying it threatened Japan and seriously impacts the peace and stability of the region and beyond.
Kishida expressed hope that Pelosi will continue to exert leadership in strengthening the bilateral alliance and realizing a “free and open” Indo-Pacific, a vision pushed by both nations to uphold democracy and the rule of law.
“We confirmed that we will work together to make sure peace and stability in the Taiwan Strait are maintained,” Kishida told reporters at his office after meeting with Pelosi over breakfast.
“China’s behavior has a serious impact on the peace and stability of the region and the world and I explained that we called for an immediate halt to the exercises,” he said.
Pelosi is visiting Japan on the final leg of an Asian tour that has taken her to Singapore, Malaysia, Taiwan and South Korea. Hours before her plane touched down in Japan, China fired at least nine ballistic missiles, of which five landed within the EEZ.
China has been carrying out military exercises in locations encircling Taiwan, in response to Pelosi’s high-profile visit, the first by a U.S. House speaker in a quarter century. Beijing views the self-governing democracy as a renegade province to be reunified with the mainland, by force if necessary.
The rise of an assertive China is a shared concern for Japan and the United States, and the longtime allies’ push for a “free and open” Indo-Pacific with other like-minded partners reflects such worries.
Despite diplomatic friction, China is an important partner for Japan, which also has close economic ties with Taiwan. The Japanese government has refrained from taking an official stance on Pelosi’s visit to Taiwan.
In talks with Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-wen on Wednesday, Pelosi underscored the U.S. determination to preserve the island’s democracy.
Kishida and Pelosi also discussed other common challenges for the two nations, including nuclear-armed North Korea and Russia following its invasion of Ukraine, as well as efforts to achieve a world free of nuclear weapons, a goal set by the Japanese prime minister.
Besides Kishida, Pelosi is scheduled to meet with House of Representatives Speaker Hiroyuki Hosoda on Friday.
She had planned to visit Japan in April but contracted COVID-19.
