Speaking after a meeting with US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi in Tokyo on Friday, Kishida said China’s live-fire drills near the self-ruled island must “stop immediately”. Beijing announced four days of exercises expected to end on Sunday. The drills are a “serious problem affecting our national security and the security of our citizens,” Kishida told reporters. China is Japan’s biggest trading partner, but the countries have traded verbal blows over the Senkakus – uninhabited islands in the East China Sea administered by Japan but claimed by China, where they are known as the Diaoyu. While Tokyo is keen not to antagonize Beijing, its role in hosting tens of thousands of US troops – most of whom are based on the southern island of Okinawa – could see Japan play a key role in any crisis in the Taiwan Strait. Five Chinese missiles appeared to land in Japan’s EEZ off Hateruma, an island far south of Japan’s main islands, with four believed to have flown over the main island of Taiwan. The zone extends up to 200 nautical miles (370 km) from the country’s coastline, beyond the limits of its territorial waters. locator map “China’s actions this time have a serious impact on the peace and stability of our region and the international community,” Kishida said after a breakfast meeting with Pelosi, who sparked anger in Beijing after her visit to Taiwan on Wednesday. “I told her that we asked for the immediate cancellation of the military exercises. We also affirmed continued close cooperation to maintain peace and stability in the Taiwan Strait.” Kishida said he and Pelosi were committed to a “free and open Indo-Pacific” — a reference to China’s increasingly assertive military activity in the South and East China seas. Pelosi said China should not be allowed to isolate Taiwan by preventing US officials from traveling to the island. “They may try to prevent Taiwan from visiting or participating in other places, but they will not isolate Taiwan by preventing us from traveling there,” he said on Friday. Japanese Defense Minister Nobuo Kishi said Tokyo had protested to Beijing. The missiles, he added, “threatened Japan’s national security and the lives of the Japanese people, which we strongly condemn.” air recognition zones China has said Pelosi’s visit to Taiwan is a challenge to its sovereignty claims on the island, which it views as a breakaway province that it will eventually bring under its control — by force, if necessary. Taiwan called the drills a “blockade” from air and sea and a violation of international law. Pelosi, the highest-ranking US official to visit Taiwan in 25 years, met Kishida at the end of a tour of Asia that has sharply raised tensions in the region. South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol did not meet with Pelosi on Thursday, accusing her of seeking to appease China. Yoon was reportedly on vacation in Seoul, but had a phone call with the US House speaker. Pelosi, who met Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-wen this week, said her visit made it “undoubtedly clear” that Washington will not abandon a democratic ally. Kishida said he and Pelosi discussed North Korea, the Russian invasion of Ukraine, China and nuclear weapons. However, Tokyo is more concerned about China’s military exercises, which are being conducted at sites near Japan’s remote southern islands. They include Yonaguni, which is just over 100 kilometers (62 miles) from Taiwan, and the Senkakus – uninhabited islets administered by Japan but claimed by China and Taiwan. Japan has beefed up its defenses and troop presence in its southwestern region and on outlying islands, including Okinawa, located about 700 kilometers (420 miles) northeast of Taiwan. Okinawa is home to most of the 50,000 US troops stationed in Japan. Kishida’s ruling Liberal Democratic Party has pledged to double military spending to 2 percent of GDP, citing growing threats from China and nuclear-armed North Korea. The defense section of the Japanese embassy in Washington said Japanese self-defense aircraft had been mobilized after Chinese drones flew around Sakishima Island and Taiwan. US officials said the drills were an “overreaction”. “China chose to overreact and use the speaker’s visit as a pretext to increase provocative military activity in and around the Taiwan Strait,” White House National Security Council spokesman John Kirby said after the launch of 11 ballistic missiles. missiles on Thursday. Kirby said the “irresponsible” launches were “another example of how China’s actions undermine peace and security in the region.”
