According to Kyodo News on May 8, Japanese Foreign Minister Toshiaki Shigeki held a meeting with the foreign ministers of four Eastern European countries in the Polish capital of Warsaw on the morning of May 7. The participating countries agreed on the importance of maintaining a free and open international order based on the rule of law in view of the expanding influence of the Chinese Communist Party on Eastern Europe, and also confirmed the policy of continuing cooperation in a wide range of fields such as economics and science and technology.
Shigeki expressed serious concern about the CCP’s attempts to unilaterally change the status quo in the East and South China Seas, including the Maritime Police Law, which allows the Bureau of Maritime Police to use weapons, and the situation in Hong Kong, among others. After the meeting, Shigeki held an online press conference, stressing that he “expressed his views on various actions and attempts of the Chinese Communist Party that should be of concern, and the other side listened carefully.
Later, Shigeki also held separate meetings with the foreign ministers of Slovakia, Hungary and the Czech Republic.
Poland is now the chair of the four-nation Eastern European regional bloc (V4) with Hungary, Slovakia, and the Czech Republic. All of these countries are involved in the Communist Party’s “One Belt, One Road” economic belt concept and other efforts to promote economic cooperation with China, and many Japanese companies are also present.
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