Japanese Foreign Minister Yoshimasa Hayashi on Thursday expressed "grave concern" over an ongoing large-scale military drill launched by China in the strait dividing Taiwan and the mainland, the Japanese government said.
In a meeting of foreign ministers from ASEAN countries along with Japan, China and South Korea in Phnom Penh, Hayashi said Tokyo expects issues related to the self-ruled democratic island to be "resolved peacefully," according to the Foreign Ministry.
The 10-member Association of Southeast Asian Nations held the meeting with the three countries amid rising U.S.-China tensions over U.S. House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi's visit to Taiwan earlier this week.
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