Japan Foreign Minister Yoshimasa Hayashi delivers opening remarks with Japan's Minister of Economy, Trade and Industry Koichi Hagiuda (not pictured) during the U.S.-Japan Economic Policy Consultative Committee (EPCC) at the State Department in Washington, U.S., July 29, 2022. REUTERS/Tom Brenner/Pool
Washington: Japan's Foreign Minister Yoshimasa Hayashi warned against China's behavior in the Indo-Pacific region, saying that the "logic of brute force" is gaining more traction over the rule of law in the two oceans.
In a speech at a Washington think tank, Hayashi said, "We are currently standing at a historical crossroads, one fraught with a sense of crisis."
The ongoing unilateral attempts to change the status quo by force or coercion in the East and South China Seas are of growing concern, he added.
Even in this region, the logic of brute force is gaining more traction over the rule of law, and the strategic balance in the region is increasingly a challenge for Japan and the US, he pointed out.
The United States, Japan, and Australia have expressed their concerns about China's behavior in the Indo-Pacific, warning of its consequences.
