Iranian Defense Minister Aziz Nasirzadeh on Wednesday arrived in Qingdao, east China's Shandong Province, to attend the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) Defense Ministers' Meeting, according to Yuyuantantian, a media outlet under China Media Group (CMG).
Defense leaders of SCO member countries as well as senior officials of SCO Secretariat and Regional Anti-Terrorist Structure are attending the two-day event from Wednesday and Thursday.
Following the Astana summit in July 2024, China assumed the rotating presidency of the SCO for 2024-2025 and will host the 25th Meeting of the Council of Heads of State of the SCO in north China's Tianjin Municipality this autumn.
The SCO, established in 2001, is the first international organization with China as a founding member state and named after a Chinese city.
Iranian defense minister arrives in Qingdao for SCO meeting
Former Japanese Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama on Tuesday urged the country's incumbent Takaichi administration to withdraw its erroneous remarks regarding China's Taiwan, and adhere to the one-China policy.
Hatoyama made the remarks during the ongoing 13th Beijing Xiangshan Forum, which runs from Tuesday to Thursday in the Chinese capital. He said Takaichi should either retract her remarks or, by some other means, communicate in "an absolutely unambiguous manner" that Japan continues to firmly respect the one-China policy. "The Taiwan issue is an extremely sensitive issue in China-Japan relations. I believe it is important for Japan to continue respecting the agreements embodied in the 1972 Japan China Joint Communique. That is one-China policy. I can understand why China was concerned by Prime Minister Takaichi's remarks last year. In diplomacy, even a change in wording can sometimes be interpreted as a change in policy. Prime Minister Takaichi should either retract these remarks, or by some other means, communicate in an absolutely unambiguous manner that Japan continues to respect the one-China policy," said Hatoyama.
At a Diet meeting in November last year, Takaichi said the Chinese mainland's "use of force on Taiwan" could constitute a "survival-threatening situation" for Japan. She refused to retract her remark, which implies the possibility of armed intervention in the Taiwan Strait.
Takaichi's provocative statements have sparked widespread outrage and condemnation across China, while China has repeatedly urged Japan to retract those remarks.
Former Japanese PM Hatoyama urges Takaichi to retract Taiwan-related remarks
