Pelosi arrives in Japan, the last leg of her Asian tour
The plane carrying US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi landed Thursday in Japan, the last leg of her Asian tour, after a visit to Taiwan that angered China.
AFP reporters saw the plane landing at Yokota Air Force Base in Tokyo, where Pelosi arrived from South Korea after this week she became the most senior US official to visit Taiwan in 25 years.
China is conducting its largest ever military exercises around Taiwan, which Beijing considers part of its territory and has vowed to seize it one day by force if necessary.
On Thursday, Japanese Defense Minister Nobuo Keichi suggested that Chinese missiles would fall into Japan's exclusive economic zone for the first time.
"Five out of the nine ballistic missiles launched by China are believed to have fallen within Japan's exclusive economic zone," Kishi told reporters as China conducted extensive military exercises in the waters around Taiwan.
Kishi said it is the first time that Chinese ballistic missiles have landed in Japan's exclusive economic zone, which extends 200 nautical miles from Japan's coast, outside its territorial waters.
Pelosi, who is visiting Japan for the first time since 2015, is scheduled to meet Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida on Friday morning, according to state broadcaster NHK.
She will also speak with Japanese House of Representatives Speaker Hiroyuki Hosoda on international relations.
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