The foreign ministers of South Korea, Japan and the United States expressed concern over the increasingly frequent destabilizing actions around Taiwan, Reuters reported after their meeting yesterday, BTA reports.
The three leaders also declared their strong disagreement with “illegal maritime claims“ in the South China Sea and attempts to impose them.
The statement did not specifically mention China, but it comes amid growing tensions between Beijing and Washington and its allies over the disputed South China Sea.
China claims almost the entire South China Sea, which overlaps with the exclusive economic zones of Brunei, Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines and Vietnam. Disputes over ownership of certain islands have remained unresolved for years.
The joint statement noted that U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio, South Korean Foreign Minister Cho Hyun, and Japanese Foreign Minister Takeshi Iwaya discussed the three countries' continued commitment to ending North Korea's nuclear program.