The Japanese Prime Minister on Friday condemned Chinese ballistic missile shooting during military training around Taiwan, calling them “serious problems that have an impact on our national security and the safety of our citizens”.Five Chinese missiles seem to have fallen in the country’s exclusive economic zone, Tokyo said, with four of those who were believed to have flown over the main island of Taiwan.
“China’s actions this time have a serious impact on the peace and stability of our region and the international community,” Prime Minister Fumio Kishida told reporters after meeting with US Speaker Nancy Pelosi for breakfast “I told him that we had called for a direct cancellation of military training.”
Pelosi is in Tokyo for the last leg of the Asian tour, including stopping in Taiwan, making an angry Beijing, who has launched his biggest military training around the island that is governed by himself in response. The 82-year-old politician opposed a strong threat from China to become the highest US official to visit Taiwan for years, saying his journey made him “clearly” the United States will not leave a democratic allies.
China views Taiwan as part of its territory and has vowed to reclaim the island one day, forcibly if necessary. Kishida said he and the pelSi discussed geopolitical issues including matters related to North Korea, China and Russia, as well as efforts towards a nuclear-free world.
Pelosi arrived Thursday night from South Korea, another US key ally, where he visited the border with northern nuclear armed. This is his first time in Japan since 2015. Tokyo has submitted a diplomatic protest with Beijing for military training, which began on Thursday.
Part of the southernmost Okinawa region in Japan is close to Taiwan, as is the islands in the middle of a long-lasting dispute between Tokyo and Beijing. Japan’s exclusive economic zone (EEE) extends up to 200 nautical miles from the coastline, beyond its territorial waters.
