Beijing blasts US, Japan for ‘anti-China encirclement’ after Tokyo talks

It follows diplomatic and security meeting at which concerns were raised about Beijing’s ‘coercion and destabilising behaviour’

Foreign ministry spokesman calls it a ‘vicious attack on foreign policy’ and says China won’t yield to pressure from US ahead of Alaska talks

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Chinese foreign ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian accused Japan of becoming a “strategic vassal” of the United States. Photo: Kyodo

Published: 7:30pm, 17 Mar 2021Updated: 8:23pm, 17 Mar 2021

Beijing has blasted Washington and Tokyo for attempting “anti-China encirclement” after their officials raised concerns about its “destabilising behaviour” in the region during talks on Tuesday.

Chinese foreign ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian on Wednesday issued Beijing’s toughest words yet on US efforts to revive alliances to counter China’s growing influence in the Indo-Pacific region.

It followed a meeting in Tokyo between US Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Defence Secretary Lloyd Austin and Japanese Foreign Minister Toshimitsu Motegi and Defence Minister Nobuo Kishi.

In a joint statement released after the “two plus two” diplomatic and security talks, the two countries said they were “committed to opposing [China’s] coercion and destabilising behaviour towards others in the region” and expressed “serious concerns” on the situation in Hong Kong and Xinjiang.

They also highlighted shared concerns over China’s new coastguard law that took effect last month, calling it a “disruptive” development and “unilateral action that seeks to change the status quo or to undermine Japan’s administration of [the Diaoyu Islands]”.

(From left) Lloyd Austin, Antony Blinken, Toshimitsu Motegi and Nobuo Kishi meet for diplomatic and security talks in Tokyo on Tuesday. Photo: Xinhua

Zhao said Beijing had lodged representation to both countries and called the joint statement “a vicious attack on China’s foreign policy” and “gross interference in China’s internal affairs”.