TOKYO: Japanese ruling party lawmakers Thursday criticized Foreign Minister Toshimitsu Motegi for not countering China’s justification of its coast guard activities around the Senkaku Islands of Okinawa Prefecture, southernmost Japan.

Participants at a meeting of the Liberal Democratic Party’s Foreign Affairs Division said Motegi should have refuted the justification made by Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi at a joint press conference in Tokyo on Tuesday.

The LDP division plans to press the Foreign Ministry to clarify Japan’s stance over the Senkakus, a chain of islands in the East China Sea controlled by Tokyo but claimed by Beijing.

At the joint press conference, Motegi referred to the Senkakus, around which Chinese coast guard ships have been spotted frequently. They are called Diaoyu in China.

In response, Wang said that China has no other choice but to respond when Japanese fishing boats enter the increasingly tense waters off the islands.

Wang’s remarks contradicted Japan’s stance on the islands, but Motegi made no response at the time.

One participant at Thursday’s LDP meeting said such an attitude by Motegi can be taken to mean that Japan tolerates China’s claims.

The ministry said Japan’s stance on the islands was firmly expressed at the Motegi-Wang meeting and at a briefing by its press secretary.

JIJI Press