The meeting held Monday in the Japanese capital came as China conducted exercises around Taiwan in response to President Tsai Ing-wen’s meeting with US House Speaker Kevin McCarthy.
The Chinese aircraft carrier Shandong was spotted off Miyakojima, a Japanese island close to Taiwan between Friday and Sunday, Japan’s Defense Ministry said in a statement Monday. Fighter planes and helicopters were seen taking off and landing from the vessel dozens of times, it added.
Japan’s officials have repeatedly said the stability of Taiwan is key to its own security and the government has set up military bases on some of its southwestern islands close to Taiwan.
Tokyo’s officials also lodged a stern protest with their Chinese counterparts over Beijing’s comments about plans to release treated wastewater from the crippled Fukushima Dai-Ichi nuclear plant into the ocean. China last month reiterated its condemnation of the planned discharge, which Japan has said will not cause any safety issues.
“We strongly protested the fact that the Chinese side continuously makes comments that are not based on scientific proof,” the Foreign Ministry said in a statement, adding that it sought a science-based dialogue.
Image credits: Bloomberg
