The United States, Australia, India and Japan announced a series of measures Monday to boost maritime security and voiced concern about intimidation and dangerous actions in the South China Sea.
Japanese Foreign Minister Yoko Kamikawa told reporters that the international order is becoming increasingly uncertain amid Russia’s continued aggression against Ukraine, North Korea ballistic missile launches and attempts to use force to change the status quo in the East and South China Seas.
Kamikawa spoke alongside U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken, Australian Foreign Minister Penny Wong and Indian Foreign Minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar after hosting the group for talks in Tokyo.
Blinken said that in addition to bolstering maritime security and freedom of navigation, the group would also work to bolster security for key undersea cables and collaborate on disaster relief efforts.
“We all know we cannot achieve the region we seek alone,” Wong said. “And just as we benefit from the complementarity of our partners, so does our region, because of our geography and our shared approach to building prosperity and reinforcing stability. All of us want a world in which disputes are managed by rules, by talking, by cooperation, not by force or raw power.”
The group did not mention China by name in its comments about maritime security, but China’s actions in the region have repeatedly drawn rebukes.
The United States and Japan issued their own statement Sunday accusing China of “destabilizing actions” in the South China Sea.
Chinese foreign ministry spokesman Lin Jian responded Monday, warning the U.S. and Japan to “stop creating imaginary enemies.”
Some information for this story was provided by The Associated Press, Agence France-Presse and Reuters.
