Washington: Senior diplomats from Japan and South Korea on Monday expressed support for the United States’ position over suspected Chinese spy balloons violating U.S. airspace, including one recently shot down by the U.S. military.

At a meeting in Washington on the day, U.S. Deputy Secretary of State Wendy Sherman provided information on such balloons to Japanese Vice Foreign Minister Takeo Mori and South Korean First Vice Foreign Minister Cho Hyun-dong.

“We will remain aligned with” Japan, South Korea, and other allies and partners worldwide to “push back” on Chinese behavior that “challenges the rules-based regional and international order,” Sherman told a press conference after the trilateral meeting.

Sherman flatly denied Beijing’s claim that the United States is also flying spy balloons in Chinese airspace, saying, “There are no U.S. government balloons over the People’s Republic of China–none, zero, period.”

“About American activities, Wendy has the right answer,” Mori said. “As an ally of the United States, we trust what the United States officially stated on this issue,” Cho said.

On North Korea’s moves to accelerate nuclear and missile development, Sherman, Mori and Cho called for the complete denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula while agreeing to boost the security cooperation among the United States, Japan and South Korea in order to strengthen their deterrence capabilities.

The three officials also reaffirmed their countries’ cooperation to maintain peace and stability in the Taiwan Strait, and discussed promoting a free and open Indo-Pacific.

“I don’t think you could find a stronger trilateral relationship than the one that we have,” Sherman said.

JIJI Press