US, Japan should stop interfering in our internal affairs: China

Beijing [China], March 17 (ANI): China on Wednesday firmly opposed the recent US-Japan joint statement and asked the two nations to immediately stop interfering in its internal affairs, Chinese state media Xinhua reported.
This comes a day after senior US and Japanese officials during high-level security talks discussed their shared concerns over China's "disruptive" activities in the Indo-Pacific region and committed to oppose coercion behaviour towards others in the region.
The two sides issued the statement after US Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Secretary of Defense Llyod Austin met in Tokyo with their Japanese counterparts Foreign Minister Toshimitsu Motegi and Defense Minister Nobuo Kishi.
"The United States and Japan acknowledged that China's behaviour, was inconsistent with the existing international order, presents political, economic, military, and technological challenges to the alliance and to the international community," the joint statement said.
The ministers from the two countries also spoke against coercive and destabilising behaviour towards others in the region, which undermines the rule-based international system. They also expressed serious concerns about recent disruptive developments in the region, such as the China Coast Guard law.
Responding to the joint statement, Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson Zhao Lijian said that China has asked the United States and Japan to immediately stop interfering in China's internal affairs and stop forming "small cliques" targeting Beijing.
"We have lodged solemn representations separately with the United States and Japan," Zhao said.
"The United States and Japan have no right to unilaterally define international relations, let alone impose their own standards on others," Zhao said. (ANI)