Japan and France on Saturday agreed on a new road map for collaboration in the Indo-Pacific region which emphasizes the importance of maintaining peace and stability in the Taiwan Strait and support for Taiwan’s meaningful participation in international organizations.
The agreement was announced following a telephone conversation between Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida and French President Emmanuel Macron in the United Arab Emirates.
In Taipei, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) welcomed the announcement and expressed gratitude for the countries’ support.
Photo: Yang Cheng-yu, Taipei Times
The agreement, under which Japan and France would collaborate on regional issues through 2027, reaffirms that peace and stability in the Taiwan Strait is indispensable to global security and prosperity, encourages the peaceful resolution of issues concerning the Strait and supports Taiwan’s meaningful participation in international organizations.
The two countries also said that they oppose any action that would increase tensions and endanger regional stability, freedom of navigation or the international order.
They expressed strong concern about the situations in the East China Sea and the South China Sea, and called for tensions in the Indo-pacific region to be resolved through dialogue.
Japanese public broadcaster NHK reported that Kishida and Macron also agreed that their governments would enhance joint military training and drills.
MOFA said it appreciates Tokyo and Paris expressing their opposition to any actions that would increase tensions in the region and endanger stability or freedom of navigation.
Peace and stability in the Taiwan Strait is vital to security and prosperity in the Indo-pacific region, and the ministry welcomes any actions by global leaders to help maintain that peace, it said.
Taiwan, an important and responsible country in the Indo-Pacific region, will continue to deepen its cooperation with the US, Japan, European countries and other liked-minded nations to maintain peace, stability, openness and prosperity in the Indo-pacific region, it said.
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