TOKYO – The Japanese government has conveyed to China its concern over the military exercise around Taiwan that Beijing launched this week involving live-fire drills, a source familiar with the development said Tuesday.
Japan communicated to the Chinese side on Monday that it expects issues concerning the democratically governed island to be resolved peacefully through dialogue, the source said.
The latest Chinese drills, which continued into a second day on Tuesday, come after the administration of U.S. President Donald Trump approved earlier this month a potential sale of weapons and related equipment to Taiwan worth more than $11 billion.
They also follow a hard-line Chinese reaction to Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi’s remarks last month suggesting that an attack on Taiwan, as a “survival-threatening situation” for Japan, could elicit a response involving Japanese defense forces in support of the United States.
Japan’s westernmost island of Yonaguni lies just 110 kilometers from the democratically governed island, which Beijing views as a renegade province that must be reunified with the mainland, by force if necessary.
China has cast the ongoing military exercise as a warning against separatism and external interference, deploying its warships and warplanes in waters and airspace surrounding Taiwan.
BY: The Times Union – KYODO
