China's military drills are to be "immediately cancelled," according to Japan

• Image Credit: Internet

• Aug 5, 2022 | Sourav Boruah

Digital Desk: The firing of ballistic missiles by China during
military exercises near Taiwan was denounced by the prime minister of Japan on
Friday, who called it a "severe matter that concerns our national security
and the safety of our citizens."

According to Tokyo, five Chinese missiles appear to have landed
in the nation's exclusive economic zone, with four of them perhaps having flown
over Taiwan's main island.

After having breakfast with US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, Prime
Minister Fumio Kishida warned reporters that China's recent actions "have
a major influence on the peace and stability of our area and the world
community."

"I told her that we have demanded that the military drills
be immediately cancelled."

Pelosi is currently in Tokyo for the last leg of a journey of
Asia that also took her to Taiwan. This infuriated Beijing, which in reaction
has been conducting its biggest-ever military exercises surrounding the
autonomous island.

The 82-year-old senator rejected harsh warnings from China to become
the most prominent US official to visit Taiwan in years, saying her presence
showed that the US would not desert a democratic ally.

Taiwan is considered to be a part of Chinese territory, and
China has pledged to one day recapture the island, if necessary through force.

According to Kishida, he and Pelosi spoke about geopolitical
challenges, particularly those involving North Korea, China, and Russia as well
as efforts to create a world free of nuclear weapons.

Pelosi arrived on Thursday night after travelling to the North
Korean border from South Korea, another important US ally. She hasn't been to
Japan since 2015.

Tokyo has officially protested the military drills, which
started on Thursday, to Beijing.

Taiwan is near to Taiwan, as are islets at the centre of a
protracted dispute between Tokyo and Beijing, as well as portions of Japan's
southernmost territory of Okinawa.

Beyond its territorial waters, Japan's exclusive economic
zone (EEZ) stretches up to 200 nautical miles from its coast.