China on Monday warned India and Japan against “provoking confrontation” and “creating tension” in the region, reacting to Saturday’s decision by the two countries to include Japan in the annual India-United States Malabar naval exercises on a regular basis.
During Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s visit to India, both countries signed a range of agreements to widen defence and security ties, from formalising Japan’s presence in the India-US Exercise Malabar “on a regular basis” to signing a landmark deal on civilian nuclear energy.
While China had in October played down Japan’s presence in the naval drills saying Beijing was “not that fragile” and had “sound relations” with both India and the US, the Chinese Foreign Ministry struck a different tone on Monday, warning “relevant countries” to not “provoke confrontation”.
“As for Japan’s participation in the relevant military exercises, China’s position is very clear,” Foreign Ministry spokesperson Hong Lei said at a daily press briefing, in response to a question on Abe’s visit.
“Relevant countries should not provoke confrontation and create tension in the region,” Hong said.
On the nuclear agreement, he said China wasn’t opposed to peaceful use of energy as long as countries fulfilled non-proliferation commitments. Beijing “always believes that under the premise of honoring international nuclear non-proliferation obligations, all countries are entitled to make peaceful use of nuclear energy and conduct relevant international cooperation in a way that uphold the authority and effectiveness of the international nuclear non-proliferation regime.”
On Saturday, India and Japan in a joint statement also for the first time directly expressed concern over the South China Sea, calling upon “all states to avoid unilateral actions that could lead to tensions”.
Asked for a response, Hong said China hoped countries in the region “would respect the efforts of regional countries in maintaining peace and stability of the South China Sea, instead of doing the opposite.”
“I would like to point out that China respects the navigation and overflight freedom in the South China Sea that all countries are entitled to in accordance with international law,” he said. “The construction activities that China undertakes on the stationed islands and reefs in the South China Sea fall completely within China’s sovereignty. They are justified, reasonable and lawful, targeting no country and impeding in no way the freedom of navigation and overflight in the South China Sea.”
Source from India Defence News.
