Image : Takehiro Funakoshi (left), director general of the Foreign Ministry's Asian and Oceanian Affairs Bureau, and Hong Liang, head of the Chinese Foreign Ministry's Department of Boundary and Ocean Affairs, meet in Tokyo on Monday

Tokyo - On Monday, Japan stressed the importance of maintaining peace in the Taiwan Strait during a meeting with senior Chinese officials to discuss maritime concerns in the East China Sea. This meeting came after Beijing conducted three days of simulated strikes around the island of Taiwan in response to a meeting between Taiwan President Tsai Ing-wen and U.S. House of Representatives Speaker Kevin McCarthy.

Japan also expressed its deep concern over China's military activities near Japanese waters and its coordination with Russia, and called on China to stop its coastguard ships from entering Japanese waters. The Japanese foreign ministry issued a statement conveying its concerns over the situation in the East and South China seas and emphasizing the need for peace and stability in the Taiwan Strait. Chief Cabinet Secretary Hirokazu Matsuno told reporters that the importance of peace and stability in the Taiwan Strait was not only crucial for Japan's security but also for the stability of the international community as a whole.

China considers Taiwan a part of its territory and views meetings between senior U.S. and Taiwanese officials as interference in its internal affairs. It has not ruled out the use of force to bring Taiwan under its control. Meanwhile, Japan also protested against the construction of two new structures in the East China Sea that were discovered last year, where China has built more than a dozen gas exploration platforms west of an equidistant line between the two countries.