As European and Japanese leaders announced a raft of agreements to deepen trade and defense ties at a summit Wednesday in Tokyo, they also drew a bead on China — just a day before the visiting European Union delegation heads to Beijing.
China, a top trading partner of both Japan and the EU, came under fire during a summit between Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and European Council President Antonio Costa.
In a joint statement released following the EU-Japan summit, the two sides reiterated their opposition to “any unilateral attempts to change the status quo by force or coercion” in the East and South China seas — a nod to Beijing’s growing assertiveness in contested waters — and called for the peaceful resolution of disputes in accordance with international law.
