China on Friday expressed “strong dissatisfaction and firm opposition” over an agreement between Japan and NATO earlier this week to step up defense industry cooperation, saying such a move escalates regional tensions.
Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Lin Jian said at a press conference that the trans-Atlantic alliance is a “regional and defensive military organization” and it “should not exceed the geographical scope” stipulated in its own treaty and expand its power across its borders.
Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba and NATO chief Mark Rutte reached the agreement in Tokyo on Wednesday amid security challenges posed by Russia’s war on Ukraine and China’s growing military assertiveness.
Lin warned Japan against acting as a “pioneer” in boosting NATO’s presence in the Asia-Pacific region, saying it will “inevitably bring bad consequences.”
Meanwhile, Taiwan’s Foreign Minister Lin Chia-lung welcomed the support for peace and stability in the Taiwan Strait expressed by NATO and Japan. In a statement Friday, Lin emphasized Taiwan will continue to work closely with its allies to safeguard a free and open Indo-Pacific.
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