TOKYO: Germany’s foreign minister hit out Monday at what he called China’s repeated threats to “unilaterally change” borders in the Asia-Pacific region, calling Beijing “increasingly aggressive.”
“China repeatedly threatens, more or less openly, to unilaterally change the status quo and shift borders in its favor,” Johann Wadephul said in Japan, citing China’s behavior in the Taiwan Strait and the East and South China Seas.
“Any escalation in this sensitive hub of international trade would have serious consequences for global security and the world economy,” Wadephul said after talks with Japanese counterpart Takeshi Iwaya.
A statement issued on Sunday before Wadephul’s visit to Japan — and later Indonesia — said that China was “increasingly asserting its regional supremacy and, in doing so, is also questioning principles of international law.”
“China’s increasingly aggressive behavior in the Taiwan Strait and the East and South China Seas also has implications for us in Europe: fundamental principles of our global coexistence are at stake here,” the statement quoted Wadephul as saying.
