The United States and Japan say that peace in the Taiwan Strait is important to both countries. That came during a meeting between US Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Japan’s National Security Advisor Takeo Akiba in Washington on Monday.
The two officials say that the US-Japan alliance is vital for maintaining an “inclusive, free and open Indo-Pacific.”
The US State Department says that the two pledged “to maintain freedom of navigation and overflight and other lawful uses of the sea in the South China Sea and beyond.”
It also says that trilateral cooperation between the United States, Japan and South Korea is important for addressing a number of challenges, including the denuclearization of the Korean peninsula.
As Chinese military activity near Taiwan has increased, global leaders have been more vocal about their concern for cross-Strait peace. The Group of Seven (G7) nations also expressed their concern about peace and stability in the Taiwan Strait for the first time in their joint statement in June.