Japan Strongly Opposes Missile Launches by China and Others as Acts Raising Tensions in the South China Sea

Japan Cabinet Office "South China Sea Issue Directly Linked to Regional Peace and Stability... Closely Monitoring China's Activities"

Yoshihide Suga, Chief Cabinet Secretary of Japan
Photo by EPA Yonhap News

[Asia Economy Reporter Jeong Hyunjin] The Japanese government has stated that it "strongly opposes any actions that raise tensions in the South China Sea" in response to China's test launch of an anti-ship ballistic missile.

According to NHK and other sources, Yoshihide Suga, Chief Cabinet Secretary of Japan, responded this way during a regular briefing on the morning of the day when asked about Japan's stance on China's ballistic missile test launch toward the South China Sea. The previous day, Hong Kong's South China Morning Post (SCMP), citing sources, reported that China fired two medium-range missiles, the Dongfeng-26B and the anti-ship ballistic missile DF-21D, toward the South China Sea.

In response, Secretary Suga emphasized, "We are watching China's recent activities in the South China Sea with concern, and the issues surrounding the South China Sea are matters of legitimate interest to the international community, including our country, as they are directly linked to regional peace and stability."

He added, "Our country has continuously supported the rule of law at sea," and "We want to share the view that it is important for all parties involved in the South China Sea issue to make efforts for the peaceful resolution of disputes based on international law." He also said, "We are paying attention to developments in the South China Sea and US-China relations, and we are constantly working on information gathering and analysis. However, due to the nature of the matters, we will not comment on individual details."

Meanwhile, regarding China's social networking service (SNS) TikTok, and the increasing cases where Japanese local governments exclude it from official information dissemination channels due to concerns over personal information leakage, Secretary Suga refrained from direct comments, saying, "I will refrain from commenting on specific services."

However, he stated, "Generally, when using internet services, it is important to be very careful about posting and registering personally identifiable information, and the government, centered on the Cabinet Cybersecurity Center, is making efforts to raise awareness about such precautions."