By Riyaz ul Khaliq
ISTANBUL (AA) – China on Monday lodged a protest with Japan over what it called “negative moves” during a summit between Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba and US President Donald Trump in Washington last week.
China’s Foreign Ministry summoned Akira Yokochi, chief minister of the Japanese Embassy in Beijing, to register the protest, according to a readout.
Ishiba held hist first summit with Trump, who assumed office last month, on Friday.
Liu Jinsong, the Chinese official overlooking Asian Affairs at the ministry, lodged “solemn representations against Japan's negative moves regarding China during the recent Japan-US leaders' meeting and in the Japan-US joint statement, expressing serious concern and strong dissatisfaction.”
The statement, however, did not explain the nature of the “negative moves.”
A joint statement released at the end of Ishiba-Trump meeting said the duo “reiterated their strong opposition to any attempts by the People’s Republic of China to change the status quo by force or coercion in the East China Sea.”
Reaffirming their strong opposition to China’s “unlawful maritime claims, militarization of reclaimed features, and threatening and provocative activities in the South China Sea,” it said Ishiba and Trump emphasized “importance of maintaining peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait as an indispensable element of security and prosperity for the international community.”
But the two leaders “encouraged the peaceful resolution of cross-Strait issues, and opposed any attempts to unilaterally change the status quo by force or coercion.”
During a news conference with Ishiba, Trump said he “agreed” with the Japanese prime minister to “cooperate even more closely to combat the Chinese economic aggression, which is quite aggressive.”