The US, Japanese and South Korean foreign ministers pledged on Monday to counter economic coercion and reaffirmed support for Taiwan, ahead of a summit this week between the US and Chinese presidents. Secretary of State Marco Rubio met Japanese Foreign Minister Toshimitsu Motegi and South Korean Foreign Minister Cho Hyun in New York, where the three issued a joint statement, CNA reported, citing Reuters.
Their statement backed Taiwan's meaningful participation in appropriate international organizations and stressed the importance of peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait. The ministers encouraged the peaceful resolution of cross-strait issues and opposed any attempt to change the status quo unilaterally. On North Korea, they reaffirmed their firm commitment to its complete denuclearization and called on it to resume dialogue.
The three vowed firm opposition to economic coercion and non-market policies and practices, and to arbitrary export restrictions that disrupt supply chains, wording that CNA, citing Reuters, reported was apparently aimed at China. They welcomed the launch of a new trilateral consultation mechanism on economic security, part of a broader effort to shore up supply chains and strengthen cooperation on critical technologies.
Washington reaffirmed its commitment to the defense of Japan and South Korea, its key allies in Asia. In the statement, the United States called that commitment firm and backed by unmatched US military strength, including nuclear capabilities, and restated its extended-deterrence guarantees to both countries, CNA reported. The ministers also stressed support for international law as reflected in the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea, including freedom of navigation and overflight, unimpeded lawful commerce and other lawful uses of the sea for all countries, in the Indo-Pacific and worldwide.
