Japan PM aims to calm China-Taiwan tension on US visit

Tokyo: Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga on Sunday said Taiwan's peace and stability is key to the region and that Japan will cooperate with the United States to calm rising tensions between China and Taiwan.

Suga is set to meet with President Joe Biden in Washington next week, the US leader's first in-person summit since taking office in January.

Tokyo considers its US alliance to be the cornerstone of its diplomatic and security policies, and is eager to develop close relations with the new US administration.

Taiwan is expected to be on the agenda as the leaders seek ways to deal with China's growing security threat in the region.

Chinese warplanes are increasingly entering Taiwanese airspace, and China has protested an agreement to bolster cooperation between the US and Taiwanese coast guards that followed Washington's new sales of arms equipment to Taipei.

It is important for Japan and the United States to cooperate and use deterrence to create an environment where Taiwan and China can find a peaceful solution, Suga said on a television talk show nSunday.

China claims Taiwan as its own territory, to be brought under Beijing's control by force if necessary, and it has worked to internationally isolate the island.