Steph Deschamps / August 5, 2022
Chinese ballistic missile launches around Taiwan, some of which reportedly landed in Japan's exclusive economic zone, are a serious problem that affects our national security and that of our citizens, Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida said Friday.
We call for an immediate halt to the Chinese military exercises, which began Thursday and are scheduled to continue until Sunday, Kishida added after a meeting with U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, who arrived in Tokyo the previous day.
He confirmed that Japan and the United States would continue to coordinate closely to maintain peace and stability in the Taiwan Strait.
Pelosi, 82, whose first visit to Japan since 2015, angered China by visiting Taiwan on Tuesday and Wednesday, with Beijing considering the autonomous territory of 23 million people as an integral part of its territory.
China has begun military exercises on an unprecedented scale around Taiwan, using combat aircraft and helicopters and firing ballistic missiles, some of which would have flown over the island and fallen for the first time in Japan's exclusive economic zone (EEZ), according to the Japanese Ministry of Defense.