China-Japan resume security talks after 4 years as both blame each other for increased military activities

ANKARA (AA) - China and Japan began security dialogue for the first time in four years on Wednesday, with the goal of stabilizing bilateral relations, local media said.

The previous meeting of the two nations' security dialogue took place in Beijing in Feb. 2019.

During the meeting in Tokyo, Japan's Senior Deputy Foreign Minister Shigeo Yamada expressed concern about the suspected Chinese spy balloons and Beijing's intensifying military activities, including those in collaboration with Russia, Kyodo News reported.

While China's Vice Foreign Minister Sun Weidong also warned Japan against making "negative moves" towards Taiwan "in collusion with powers outside the region."

The comment was apparently a reference to Japan’s updated version of its national security strategy to further strengthen its alliance with the US, according to the new agency.

Japan last year permitted its armed forces to acquire what it referred to as "counterstrike capability" as part of its updated national security strategy.

Under the updated security strategy, the government is also allowed to “allocate about 43 trillion yen (approximately $315 billion) for defense budgets over five years from fiscal 2023.”

The new security strategy views China as the "greatest strategic challenge," and calls North Korea a “graver, more imminent threat than before” and Russia a “serious security concern.”​​​​​​​​​​​​​​

Senior officials of both countries' foreign and defense ministries gathered in Tokyo following Japan last week claimed to have spotted a suspected Chinese object flying near its airspace in previous years.

Tokyo, a close ally of Washington, made the claim after the US shot down a Chinese balloon on Feb. 4, reigniting tensions between the two countries.

While Japan also allowed its defense forces to use weapons against any flying object that enters its airspace in the future.

Tokyo and Beijing are at odds over Japan's Senkaku Islands, which China claims and refers to as the Diaoyu Islands.

While Tokyo frequently accuses Chinese vessels of repeatedly violating its territorial waters, particularly near the Senkaku Islands, a group of East China Sea islets controlled by Japan but claimed by China under the name Diaoyu.

*Writing by Islamuddin Sajid