Japan will prepare for "any development" over the situation surrounding Taiwan, Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba said Monday, as China conducted large-scale military drills around the island.
"Peace and security in and around the Taiwan Strait are an extremely important issue for the region. Japan will carefully monitor the situation," Ishiba told reporters. "We will prepare to respond to any development."
Earlier in the day, Ishiba met with his defense and foreign ministers.
"We will be watching (the Chinese exercises) with great interest," Defense Minister Gen Nakatani told reporters after the meeting at the headquarters of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party.
Nakatani also said there is a possibility that missiles will fly into waters near Japan and that the Self-Defense Forces will take every precaution to gather information and monitor the situation.
The Chinese military conducted the drills as "a stern warning" to those seeking Taiwan's independence, ratcheting up pressure after the territory's President Lai Ching-te reiterated last week that the two sides are not subordinate to each other.
