Beijing warned Tokyo against violating China's sovereignty and territorial integrity, especially over China's Taiwan region, during Monday's meeting on maritime issues.
China and Japan on Monday held the 15th round of high-level consultations on maritime affairs in Tokyo, their first face-to-face meeting under the mechanism since 2019.
Hong Liang, director-general of the Department of Boundary and Ocean Affairs of China's Foreign Ministry and Takehiro Funakoshi, director-general of the Japanese Foreign Ministry's Asian and Oceanian Affairs Bureau co-hosted the meeting.
According to a statement released by the Chinese side, during the meeting, the Chinese delegation reiterated its position on the East China Sea, Diaoyu Islands and South China Sea issues and the Taiwan question given Japan's recent negative remarks concerning these issues.
China urged Japan to stop all acts that violate China's maritime interests, stop taking actions that may complicate the situation, the statement read, adding the Chinese side also demands Japan take no actions to interfere in the Taiwan question.
China also expressed its concern over Japan's plan to dump nuclear-contaminated water into the ocean, urging Japan to take into account the legitimate concerns of the international community, and to handle the issue in an open, transparent, scientific and safe manner, with a responsible attitude toward the marine environment and human health.
Consensus reached
According to the statement, the two sides held a plenary meeting and three working group meetings on maritime defense, maritime law enforcement and security, and marine economy, and conducted broad and in-depth exchanges of views on maritime issues on Monday.
As this year marks the 45th anniversary of the signing of the China-Japan Treaty of Peace and Friendship, the two sides agreed to follow the important consensus between the leaders of the two countries, review the spirit of the treaty, deal with divergences in maritime affairs via dialogue and strengthen practical cooperation in maritime fields, the statement said.
The two countries also called for efforts to make the East China Sea a sea of peace, friendship and cooperation and to promote the building of China-Japan relations that meet the requirements of the new era.
China and Japan reached consensus on speeding up the construction of the direct telephone line connection under the maritime and air liaison mechanism of both countries' defense sectors to safeguard maritime security.
The two sides also agreed to enhance cooperation in carrying out joint maritime search and rescue exercises, jointly combating cross-border maritime crimes and illegal fishing as well as dealing with maritime plastic waste.
Both sides have also agreed in principle to hold the 16th round of high-level consultations on China-Japan maritime affairs within this year in China.