The Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) yesterday thanked Japan and Ukraine for underlining the importance of peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait in a joint statement.
Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida paid a surprise visit to Kyiv on Tuesday to meet with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy.
The Ukrainian Presidential Office issued the statement later in the day, condemning Russia’s “unprovoked and unjustifiable ... aggression against Ukraine.”
Photo: AFP / Ukrainian Presidential press service
Kishida and Zelenskiy vowed to cooperate during Japan’s G7 presidency, expand bilateral cooperation in trade and economic relations, infrastructure development, green transition, and science, cultural and people-to-people exchanges, as well as work together toward realizing a free and open Indo-Pacific region, it said.
Regarding regional issues, the two leaders voiced “serious concern about the situation in the East and South China seas, and strongly opposed any unilateral attempt to change the status quo by force or coercion,” the statement said.
The two leaders highlighted the importance of peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait “as an indispensable element in security and prosperity in the international community,” calling for peaceful resolution of cross-strait issues, it said.
In Taipei, the ministry yesterday welcomed the statement and thanked the two leaders for stressing the importance of cross-strait peace.
The ministry said it is glad to see Japan and Ukraine upgrading their bilateral relationship to a “special global partnership” as they aim to bolster global security.
As a responsible member of the global democratic community, Taiwan insists on safeguarding common values including democracy, freedom, the rule of law and human rights, it said.
The ministry called on Russia to stop the illegal invasion of Ukraine, saying that it opposes any unilateral change of the “status quo” by force and intimidation.
The government would continue to join other countries in imposing sanctions against Russia until peace is restored in Ukraine, it said.
Taiwan would also continue to work with like-minded countries to help end the war in Ukraine, protect the rules-based international order and promote global peace and stability, it added.
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