Photo/Illutration Prime Minister Fumio Kishida meets with visiting U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi on Aug. 5. (Yosuke Fukudome)

Prime Minister Fumio Kishida and visiting U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi agreed on Aug. 5 that their nations would continue to cooperate to maintain peace and stability in the troubled Taiwan Strait.

They met for about an hour at the Prime Minister’s Official Residence in Tokyo and discussed not only Taiwan, but China, North Korea, the Russian invasion of Ukraine and the need to work toward a world without nuclear weapons.

Pelosi arrived in Tokyo on the evening of Aug. 4 after she visited Taiwan and met with President Tsai Ing-wen. Pelosi’s visit to Taiwan marked the first by a U.S. House speaker to the island territory in 25 years.

After their meeting, Kishida met with reporters and said that he informed Pelosi about the five Chinese ballistic missiles that landed within Japan’s exclusive economic zone the previous day as part of a military exercise.

“I told her that Japan issued a strong protest against China because the missiles represented a threat to Japan’s national security and the safety of the people,” the prime minister said. “Because China’s actions will have a deep effect on the peace and stability of this region and the international community, we have asked China to immediately stop its military exercise.”

Kishida also said he told Pelosi that he held high expectations for her leadership and the support of the U.S. Congress in working to strengthen the Japan-U.S. alliance as well as establishing a free and open Indo-Pacific region.

Related News