China's drills 'incompatible' with Taiwan Strait stability: Japan FM

Taipei, July 11 (CNA) China's military drills around Taiwan are "incompatible" with peace and stability in the Taiwan Strait, Japanese Foreign Minister Takeshi Iwaya said during a meeting with his Chinese counterpart Wang Yi (王毅) on Thursday.

"Peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait is important for the international community, including Japan," Iwaya told Wang during a meeting on the sidelines of the ASEAN-related Foreign Ministers' Meetings in Kuala Lumpur.

"And China's large-scale military drills around Taiwan are incompatible with this," Iwaya said, according to a press release issued by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Japan on Thursday.

The ASEAN-related Foreign Ministers' Meetings are a series of diplomatic gatherings involving ASEAN (Association of Southeast Asian Nations) member states and key partner countries to discuss regional and international issues.

During the Japan-China Foreign Ministers' Meeting, Iwaya also voiced opposition to attempts to unilaterally change the status quo by force or coercion, while expressing Japan's "serious concern" over the situation in the South China Sea.

Taiwan's Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokesperson Hsiao Kuangwei (蕭光偉) echoed Iwaya's concerns Friday evening, saying that China's repeated use of pretexts to escalate coercion and military intimidation against Taiwan posed a serious threat to peace and security across the Taiwan Strait and the surrounding region.

Such moves by China have drawn the attention of the international community, Hsiao said, noting that Japanese officials have expressed grave concern over security in the Taiwan Strait and the region to their Chinese counterparts on multiple occasions in recent years.

He cited, among others, the meeting between Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) and Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba during the APEC summit in Lima, Peru, in November 2024, as well as the Japan-China Foreign Ministers' Meeting held in Tokyo in March this year.

Those actions by Japan demonstrate its consistent stance of "speaking out when necessary" and its firm support for peace and stability in the Taiwan Strait, Hsiao said.