China and Russia are increasing their military collaboration, Japan's foreign minister warns
CTV
Japanese Foreign Minister Yoshimasa Hayashi expressed concern Saturday about Russian and Chinese military cooperation in Asia and said the security situation in Europe and the Indo-Pacific region was indivisible since Moscow's full-scale invasion of Ukraine.
Japanese Foreign Minister Yoshimasa Hayashi expressed concern Saturday about Russian and Chinese military cooperation in Asia and said the security situation in Europe and the Indo-Pacific region was indivisible since Moscow's full-scale invasion of Ukraine.
Speaking at a meeting of European and Indo-Pacific foreign ministers in Sweden, Hayashi said Russia's war in Ukraine had "shaken the very foundation of the international order" and must face a united response by the international community.
"Otherwise, similar challenges will arise in other regions and the existing order which has underpinned our peace and prosperity could be fundamentally overturned," Hayashi said.
Japan firmly backs Ukraine in the war but China says it remains neutral while declaring a "no limits" relationship with Moscow and blaming the U.S. and NATO for provoking the conflict. Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida visited the Ukrainian capital, Kyiv, in March at the same time as Chinese President Xi Jinping met Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin in Moscow.
Hayashi accused Beijing of "continuing and intensifying its unilateral attempts" to change the status quo in the East and South China seas by force and increasing its military activities around Taiwan.
"In addition, China and Russia are strengthening their military collaboration, including joint flights of their bombers and joint naval exercises in the vicinity of Japan," Hayahshi said.
China, which claims most of the South China Sea as well as Japanese-held islands in the East China Sea, says it has the right to defend its sovereignty and development interests.
