A planned meeting between China's Foreign Minister Wang Yi and his Japanese counterpart amid the ASEAN events in Cambodia had been cancelled, the Chinese foreign ministry said Thursday.
The Chinese side is strongly displeased with the joint statement put out by the Group of Seven nations about Taiwan, said Hua Chunying, spokesperson at the ministry, at a regular media briefing.
On Wednesday, the foreign ministers of G-7 nations – including Japan – had called on China to resolve tension around the Taiwan Strait in a peaceful manner.
"There is no justification to use a visit as pretext for aggressive military activity in the Taiwan Strait. It is normal and routine for legislators from our countries to travel internationally," the G-7 foreign ministers said in a statement released in Germany.
They added that China's escalatory response risked increasing tensions and destabilizing the region.
The comments come after China demonstrated its outrage over a visit to Taiwan by U.S. House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi with a burst of military activity in surrounding waters.
The Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) warned Thursday of a risk that volatility caused by tensions in the Taiwan Strait could lead to "miscalculation, serious confrontation, open conflicts and unpredictable consequences among major powers."
ASEAN made the remarks in a statement from its foreign ministers after its chair, Cambodia, urged all sides to de-escalate tension over Taiwan.
The meeting in Phnom Penh of the 10-member bloc, which is being joined by a string of top officials from other countries including China and the United States, has been overshadowed by developments in Taiwan following the visit by Pelosi.
"ASEAN stands ready to play a constructive role in facilitating peaceful dialogue between all parties," ASEAN said as it called for maximum restraint and for all sides to refrain from provocation.
The Pelosi trip, the highest-level U.S. visit to self-ruled Taiwan in 25 years, has sparked outrage in China, which has responded with a burst of military exercises and other activity in the area.
Southeast Asian countries tend to tread a careful line in trying to balance their relations with China and the United States, wary of angering either of the major powers.
Speaking in Phnom Penh, China's Foreign Minister Wang Yi called Pelosi's visit "manic, irresponsible and highly irrational," China's CCTV reported.
