China on Wednesday accused the U.S. and Japan of colluding to interfere in its internal affairs after the two countries joined forces to warn of “destabilising behaviour” by Beijing in the region.
Beijing’s response comes just a day before China’s top diplomats are set to meet top U.S. officials in Alaska in their first face-to-face talks since President Joe Biden’s administration came to power.
On Tuesday, U.S. and Japanese Foreign and Defence Ministers warned against “coercion and destabilising behaviour” by China in a joint statement after high level talks in Tokyo. The comments drew a swift rebuke.
“The U.S.-Japan joint statement maliciously attacks China’s foreign policy... and is an attempt to harm China’s interests,” Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian told reporters. He added that the two countries had “no right to unilaterally define international relations” or impose their own standards.
“This is just another clear example of the U.S. and Japan working in collusion to interfere in China’s internal affairs,” Mr. Zhao said.
After their first stop in Japan, Pentagon chief Lloyd Austin and Secretary of State Antony Blinken amet their South Korean counterparts in Seoul on Wednesday to bolster a united front against an increasingly assertive China and the nuclear-armed North.
Before leaving Tokyo,Mr. Blinken accused Beijing of acting more repressively at home and “more aggressively abroad”, citing its activities in the East and South China Seas and towards Taiwan. “It’s important for us to make clear together that China cannot expect to act with impunity,” he said.
