Japanese government sources said Monday (March 8) that Japan and the U.S. government are finally coordinating a “2+2 meeting” of the Foreign Minister’s Consultative Committee on Security and Safety of Defense Ministers to be held in Tokyo next Tuesday (Feb. 16) to discuss China’s Maritime Police Act, which allows the Marine Police Bureau to use weapons, and the Indo-Pacific Initiative, which confirms increased cooperation to achieve freedom and openness. The meeting is expected to discuss China’s Maritime Police Act, which allows for the use of weapons by the Coast Guard, and the Indo-Pacific concept, which recognizes the need to strengthen cooperation to achieve freedom and openness.
This is the first Japan-U.S. 2+2 meeting since the change of government between Japan and the United States, and will be attended by Japanese Foreign Minister Toshichika Mogi, Defense Minister Nobuo Kishi, and U.S. Secretaries of State Blinken and Defense Secretary Austin. The U.S. officials are scheduled to arrive in Japan next Monday (15) and stay until next Wednesday (17), when Blinken and Austin are expected to meet with Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga.
This is the first visit to Japan by a ministerial-level official since the Biden administration took office in January, with the last Japan-U.S. 2+2 meeting held in Washington, D.C., in April 2019. As for Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga’s phone call with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, he said he was deeply concerned about China’s implementation of the Maritime Police Act, unilateral changes to the status quo in the East and South China Seas, and the situation in Hong Kong. Sources also revealed that the Quadrilateral Security Dialogue (Quad) framework, consisting of the United States, Japan, India and Australia, will hold its first online leaders’ summit this week.
Communist Party Foreign Ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian said at a regular press conference Tuesday that the Maritime Police Law is only a routine piece of domestic legislation, Zhao said, “It is China’s consistent position not to use force or threaten to use force ……” This statement contradicts the CCP’s Marine Police Law which allows the Marine Police Bureau to use weapons.
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