The Chinese Foreign Ministry has lodged stern representations with the US and Japan over its joint statement, in which the two parties said Beijing was guilty of “coercion and destabilizing behavior.”
Speaking on Wednesday, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman, Zhao Lijian, claimed that the “US-Japan joint statement maliciously attacked China’s foreign policy, seriously interfered in China’s internal affairs,” and listed Beijing’s objections.
Zhao stated that the US and Japan do not have the power to set international rules, claiming that they are “not qualified to unilaterally define international relations, nor are they qualified to impose their own standards on others.”
The Foreign Ministry spokesman called on the US and Japan to abandon their Cold War mentality and stop the “confrontation” and “encirclement” of China. “This move by the United States and Japan will only bring chaos and even conflicts to the region and will only allow the world to see more clearly the true face of peace and stability in the troubled region of the US-Japan alliance.”
The spokesman pointed out that it was the US themselves who are guilty of “coercion,” adding that “the United States is more than 8,300 miles away from the South China Sea, but it has sent military aircraft and warships to conduct military exercises and reconnaissance in the South China Sea all the year round.”
Zhao also claimed that the US and Japan see preventing the rejuvenation of China as a foreign policy goal that serves their own “selfish interests,” adding that “this practice is shameless and unpopular.”
On Tuesday, US and Japanese foreign and defense ministers warned against China’s “coercion and destabilizing behavior” in the region. The nations claimed that “China’s behavior, where inconsistent with the existing international order, presents political, economic, military and technological challenges.”
Beijing’s criticism of the US-Japan joint statement comes one day before Chinese and US officials meet in Alaska. It will be the first time Secretary of State Antony Blinken has met his counterparts from Beijing.
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