Japanese Foreign Minister Toshimitsu Motegi (Photo: Reuters)

Japan is paying close attention to recent activities in the East Sea carried out by China, Motegi said, given the information about China’s launch of several ballistic missiles in the sea.

He stressed that issues related to the East Sea are directly linked to regional peace and stability and is a legitimate concern of the international community, including Japan. Japan strongly opposes any act that increases tension in the East Sea and always upholds the rule of law at seas.

On August 26, answering reporters’ questions about Vietnam’s response to China’s holding of military exercises in the waters north-northeast of Vietnam’s Hoang Sa (Paracel) archipelago, Vietnamese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Le Thi Thu Hang made it clear that China’s act violated Vietnam’s sovereignty over the archipelago and ran counter to the spirit of the Declaration on the Conduct of Parties in the East Sea (DOC).

It also complicated the situation, which is unfavourable for the ongoing negotiations between China and ASEAN on a Code of Conduct of Parties in the East Sea (COC) and the maintenance of a peaceful, stable, and cooperative environment in the East Sea, she added.

“Vietnam demands that China respect Vietnam’s sovereignty over Hoang Sa archipelago, stop and not repeat such violations,” Hang said./.VNA