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Japan’s Kishida makes veiled China reference as he warns G7 of ‘attempts to change the status quo by force’
- The Japanese PM told G7 leaders that attempts to change the status quo by force were ‘continuing and increasing in the Indo-Pacific’
- He also warned of the dangers of countries drawing the ‘wrong lessons’ from Russia’s war on Ukraine, in another apparent reference to China
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Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida has stressed the need for G7 leaders to show a united front to prevent other countries from drawing the “wrong lessons” from Russia’s war on Ukraine, in an apparent reference to Chinese muscle-flexing in the Indo-Pacific.
Kishida highlighted the severity of the security situation surrounding Japan on Sunday during a Group of Seven summit in southern Germany, citing Beijing’s dispatch of ships to waters around the Diaoyu Islands, which Japan calls the Senkakus, and its gas field explorations in the East China Sea as attempts to change the status quo by force.
“We have seen attempts to change the status quo by force continuing and increasing in the Indo-Pacific,” Kishida was quoted by a senior Japanese government official as telling his G7 counterparts.
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“We need to ensure other countries do not draw wrong lessons from the situation in Ukraine,” he said, calling for the safeguarding of the rules-based international order.
With North Korea continuing to launch ballistic missiles and apparently making preparations for a nuclear test, Kishida said the international community should not give Pyongyang the impression that “a window of opportunity to proceed with missile development” is open.
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Kishida also called for China to enhance transparency regarding its nuclear arsenal, according to the Japanese official.
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