The Quad, a security consultative body consisting of four countries?the United States, India, Japan, and Australia?adopted a joint statement on the 29th condemning North Korea's ballistic missile launch and emphasizing compliance with international law in the East and South China Seas, targeting China.
U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken, Japanese Foreign Minister Yoshimasa Kamikawa, Australian Foreign Minister Penny Wong, and Indian External Affairs Minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar held a Quad foreign ministers' meeting in Tokyo at noon and issued the joint statement.
The ministers of the four countries condemned North Korea's ballistic missile launches that undermine stability and reaffirmed their commitment to the complete denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula in accordance with UN Security Council resolutions, urging North Korea to comply with all obligations under the Security Council resolutions.
They also emphasized the importance of compliance with international law for maritime order, including in the East China Sea and South China Sea, and reaffirmed their strong opposition to any unilateral attempts to change the status quo by force.
China, identified as a threat in the East and South China Seas, immediately reacted.
Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Lin Zhen said at a briefing that "the frequent deployment of advanced military aircraft and warships by some extraregional countries to the South China Sea to demonstrate military power and create tension has become the greatest threat to regional peace and stability," adding, "China firmly safeguards its territorial sovereignty and maritime rights and interests and maintains the position of properly handling maritime issues bilaterally through dialogue and negotiations with directly involved parties."
Meanwhile, China also expressed criticism of the concerns raised by the United States and Japan during their foreign and defense ministers' (2+2) meeting the previous day, where they expressed worries that China is attempting to change the status quo by force regarding the Taiwan issue and others.
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