China Accuses Japan Of "Smear Attacks" During Quad Talks

China has expressed strong dissatisfaction with Japan over what it called "smear attacks" against China at recent high-level meetings with the United States, India, and Australia, the Foreign Ministry said, the Associated Press (AP) reported.

The US-Japan talks were followed by a meeting of the foreign ministers from the Quad countries—the US, Japan, India, and Australia. I Photo: 海上保安庁 X

A ministry statement said that Liu Jinsong, the director general of the Asian affairs department, conveyed solemn representations and serious concern at a meeting the previous day with Akira Yokochi, the deputy chief of mission at the Japanese Embassy.

"Liu pointed out that Japan's smear attacks on China are self-contradictory to its statement of promoting the strategic and reciprocal relationship between the two countries," the statement said.

Meeting in Tokyo, Japan's foreign and defense ministers agreed to bolster military cooperation with the US at what are known as "2+2" talks with their American counterparts.

A joint statement said China's foreign policy "seeks to reshape the international order for its own benefit at the expense of others" and that such behavior represents "the greatest strategic challenge" in the Indo-Pacific region and beyond.

The US-Japan talks were followed by a meeting of the foreign ministers from the Quad countries—the US, Japan, India, and Australia.

The joint statement did not mention China by name but expressed opposition to "the militarization of disputed features and coercive and intimidating maneuvers in the South China Sea," as Mainichi Shimbun also reported.