Japan said on Wednesday that it had conveyed its "concerns" to China after Beijing held massive drills on Monday and Tuesday around Taiwan.
Japanese Foreign Ministry press secretary Kitamura Toshihiro said in a statement that the "recent military exercises conducted by the Chinese military around Taiwan constitute actions that increase tensions across the Taiwan Strait, and the Government of Japan has conveyed its concerns to the Chinese side."
"It has been the consistent position of the government of Japan that it expects that the issue surrounding Taiwan will be resolved peacefully through dialogue," Kitamura said.
"Peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait are important for the international community as a whole. We will continue to monitor related developments with strong interest," Kitamura said.
At press time, Beijing had yet to react to the statement by Tokyo.
Separately, reacting to the Chinese drills, New Zealand said Wednesday that it "is concerned by another occurrence of large-scale military exercises around Taiwan."
"We call for the peaceful resolution of cross-Strait issues through de-escalation and dialogue, and for the avoidance of actions that may undermine peace and stability," New Zealand's Foreign Ministry said in a statement posted on US social media company X.
The remarks from Japan came after Beijing launched the two-day Justice Mission 2025 joint military drills on Monday, days after the US approved a one-time record sale of arms worth over $11 billion to Taipei.
Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi said Tuesday that any attempt to "obstruct" Chinese reunification "is doomed to fail," adding that "continuous provocations by 'Taiwan independence' forces and the large-scale arms sales to Taiwan by the United States" must be "resolutely opposed."
Taiwanese leader William Lai Ching-te, for his part, said Beijing "has continued to escalate military tension in the region, which is not the behavior of a responsible world power," according to Focus Taiwan.
"Taiwan will not provoke a confrontation, nor seek conflict with China," he added.
Tensions between Beijing and Tokyo escalated when Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi said on Nov. 7 that a Chinese attack on Taiwan could legally constitute a "survival-threatening situation," potentially allowing Japan to exercise the right of collective self-defense.
"Japan, which launched the war of aggression against China, has failed to deeply reflect on its crimes, and its incumbent leaders even openly challenge China's territorial sovereignty, the historical conclusions of World War II, and the post-war international order," Wang said Tuesday in rebuttal to Takaichi.
