© Reuters. Printed Chinese and Japanese flags are seen in this illustration, July 21, 2022. REUTERS/Dado Ruvic/Illustration
By Sakura Murakami
TOKYO (Reuters) -Japan stressed on Monday the importance of peace in the Taiwan Strait during a meeting of senior Japanese and Chinese officials after Beijing held three days of war games around the island.
The talks, to discuss maritime concerns over disputed waters in the East China Sea, came as China was ending simulated strikes in reaction to Taiwan President Tsai Ing-wen’s meeting with U.S. House of Representatives Speaker Kevin McCarthy.
Tokyo also called on China to stop coastguard ships entering Japanese waters, adding that it was deeply concerned about Beijing’s military activity near Japanese waters and its coordination with Russia.
“We conveyed our deep concerns over the situation in the East and South China seas, and reiterated the importance of having peace and stability in the Taiwan Strait,” a Japanese foreign ministry statement said.
Chief Cabinet Secretary Hirokazu Matsuno also told reporters: “The importance of peace and stability in the Taiwan Strait is not only important for the security of Japan, but also for the stability of the international community as a whole,”
Beijing, which considers Taiwan a part of China, regards meetings between senior U.S. and Taiwanese officials as interference in its internal affairs and has not ruled out using force to bring the island under its control.
Japan also said it had protested against the construction of two new structures in the East China Sea discovered last year, where China has constructed more than a dozen gas explorations platforms west of an equidistant line between the two countries.
The area has no official border.
There was no immediate Chinese readout after the meeting, which is part of regular talks since 2012.
But at the last meeting in November, Hong Liang, chief of the Chinese delegation, criticised Tokyo for commenting on China’s activity in the Taiwan Strait.
He also asked Japan to pull ships back from seas around islands in the East China Sea claimed by both countries.
Coastguard ships of both nations regularly confront each other around the Japanese-controlled islands, known in Japan as the Senkaku and in China as the Diaoyu.
Last month, China and Japan set up a military hotline to help defuse any incidents in the waters.
