Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian hosted a regular press conference on July 1.
A reporter asked: Leaders of two Asian countries, Japan and South Korea, participated in the NATO summit this year.
Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida said that the security and defense of Europe and the Indo-Pacific region are inseparable, and attempts to unilaterally change the status quo by coercive means continue to occur in the East China Sea and the South China Sea. Tomorrow's East Asia region may become the second Ukraine. Japan deeply feels crisis.
Different from the views and positions of the Japanese side, the South Korean side emphasized that the era of the prosperity of South Korea's export economy through China is coming to an end, and South Korea should strengthen cooperation with Europe to develop its economy.
This is a "de-China" argument.
How does China respond to these remarks by Japan and the ROK?
Zhao Lijian: We have noticed relevant reports. The Japanese side repeated the old tune at the NATO summit, and kept saying that it was against unilaterally changing the status quo with its strength. In fact, the Japanese side is looking for an excuse for its own expansion of its military and armed forces. All parties have long seen this. Clearly.
When talking about the future of East Asia, we should first think about what happened yesterday in East Asia?
If the Japanese side sincerely hopes for peace and stability in East Asia, it should seriously reflect on its history of militaristic aggression and learn profound lessons from it, instead of fanning the flames and fearing that the world will not be in chaos.
The Japanese side emphasizes that it welcomes NATO's increased investment in the Indo-Pacific region, and intends to act as a "vanguard" of "NATO's Asia-Pacificization".
This approach is entirely selfish and holds a Cold War mentality. It will only provoke camp confrontation and create opposition and division in the region.
This does no good to regional countries, including Japan.
I want to stress that East Asia is a highland of peace and stability, a hot spot for cooperative development, not a geopolitical arena.
Any action that undermines the peace and stability of the region and undermines the unity and cooperation of the region will meet the common opposition of the Chinese people and the people of East Asian countries and is doomed to fail.
Responsible editor: [Ji Xiang]