Tokyo
\nThe defense ministers of Japan and China on Monday agreed to set up a joint communication hotline by the end of 2022, a news release from Japan\u2019s Defense Ministry said, amid tensions between the East Asian neighbors.
\nChina\u2019s Defense Ministry confirmed the hotline agreement in a statement without giving a date for its implementation.
\nThe agreement — reached during a two-hour video conference between Japan\u2019s Nobuo Kishi and China\u2019s Wei Fenghe — comes with their countries in dispute over Taiwan and issues in the East and South China seas.
\nThe ministers discussed those differences during the meeting, including their competing claims to an uninhabited rocky island chain in the East China Sea controlled by Japan but which China claims as its sovereign territory.
\nJapan has administered the islands, known as the Senkakus in Japan and Diaoyus in China since 1972, but tensions over the chain, 1,200 miles (1,900 kilometers) southwest of Tokyo, have simmered for years.
\nChina has been dispatching government ships, including coast guard vessels to the chain with increasing frequency, something Japan views as a challenge to its internationally recognized sovereignty over the islands.
\n\u201cMinister Kishi delivered that Japan opposes attempts of unilateral change to the status quo by coercion and that Japan possesses grave concerns against such actions, while pointing out individual events such as activities by People\u2019s Liberation Army and China Coast Guard vessels,\u201d read a statement from Japan\u2019s Defense Ministry released after the ministers\u2019 meeting.
\nIn a statement after the meeting, China stood by its sovereignty claims over the islands. \u201cChina will firmly safeguard its territorial sovereignty and maritime rights and interests.
\nThe two sides should focus on the overall interests of bilateral relations and strive to maintain stability in the East China Sea,\u201d said a release from the Defense Ministry.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Tokyo The defense ministers of Japan and China on Monday agreed to set up a joint communication hotline by the end of 2022, a news release from Japan\u2019s Defense Ministry said, amid tensions between the East Asian neighbors. China\u2019s Defense Ministry confirmed the hotline agreement in a statement without giving a date for its implementation. […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[6],"tags":[18,605],"class_list":{"0":"post-235567","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-world","7":"tag-china","8":"tag-japan"},"yoast_head":"\n