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SEOUL: The foreign ministers of South Korea, Japan and the United States expressed concern about increasingly frequent destabilising activities around Taiwan in a joint statement after their meeting.
The three also expressed strong opposition to “unlawful maritime claims” in the South China Sea and attempts to enforce such claims, the statement said.
The statement did not specifically mention China, but comes amid simmering tension between Beijing and Washington and its allies over the disputed South China Sea.
China’s foreign ministry said it strongly deplored and opposed the “irresponsible” remarks made by the three countries, urging them to “cease any form of connivance with separatist activities of Taiwan independence.”
Regarding the South China Sea, ministry spokesperson Guo Jiakun said at a press conference that the nations should respect efforts by regional countries to resolve issues through dialogue and consultation, and stop “exaggerating tensions and provoking confrontation.”
Taiwan’s foreign ministry welcomed the expression of concern.
Taiwan will cooperate with the United States, Japan, South Korea and other like-minded partners to ensure peace and stability in the Taiwan Strait and Indo-Pacific, ministry spokesperson Hsiao Kuang-wei told reporters in Taipei.
China claims almost the entire South China Sea, overlapping the exclusive economic zones of Brunei, Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines and Vietnam. Unresolved disputes have festered for years over ownership of various islands and features.
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio, South Korean Foreign Minister Cho Hyun and Japanese Foreign Minister Iwaya Takeshi met in New York on Monday and also discussed the three countries’ continued commitment to ending North Korea’s nuclear program, their joint statement said.
China, which views the democratically-governed island as its own territory, has stepped up its military activities nearby, including staging war games. Taiwan’s government rejects China’s territorial claims.

DAKAR: The military-led West African countries Mali, Burkina Faso and Niger have announced their withdrawal from the International Criminal Court, denouncing it as “a tool of neocolonial repression.”
The announcement, in a joint statement published on Monday, is the latest example of diplomatic upheaval in West Africa’s Sahel region following eight coups between 2020 and 2023.
The three countries, which are ruled by military officers, have already split from the West African regional bloc ECOWAS and formed a body known as the Alliance of Sahel States. They have also curbed defense cooperation with Western powers and sought closer ties with Russia.
Mali, Burkina Faso and Niger have been members of the ICC, located in The Hague, for more than two decades. But their statement said they viewed the court as incapable of prosecuting war crimes, crimes against humanity, crimes of aggression and genocide. It did not specify examples of where the countries believed the ICC had fallen short.
The three countries are battling Islamist militant groups that control large swathes of territory and have staged frequent attacks on military installations this year.
Human Rights Watch and other groups have accused the militants as well as the militaries and partner forces of Burkina Faso and Mali of possible atrocity crimes.
In April, United Nations experts said the alleged summary execution of several dozen civilians by Malian forces may amount to war crimes.
The ICC has had an investigation open in Mali since 2013 over alleged war crimes committed primarily in the northern regions of Gao, Timbuktu and Kidal, which had fallen under militant control. Later that year, France intervened to push back the insurgents.
The Mali investigation was opened following a referral from the government at the time.