China voices discontent with EU-Japan
13/5/2022 19:44
Chinese foreign ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian said on Friday that a joint EU-Japan statement that mentioned a territorial dispute between China and Japan was an attempt to smear China and interfere in its internal affairs. The statement, issued following a joint EU-China summit in Tokyo, expressed concern over the situation surrounding the disputed East China Sea islets known as the Senkaku islands in Japan. China also claims the islands, which it calls Diaoyu. European Union leaders also said on Thursday in Tokyo that the EU wanted to become a bigger actor in Asia, which they termed a "theatre of tensions," warning of an increasingly assertive China even as they called on Beijing to defend the multilateral global order. The EU-Japan summit featured European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, European Council President Charles Michel and Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida.
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