China condemns US-Japan statements against China's internal affairs

China was strongly dissatisfied with and firmly opposed to the United States-Japan joint leaders' statement which grossly interfered in China's internal affairs, a China's Defense Ministry spokesman said on Friday.

The ministry spokesman Zhang Xiaogang made the remarks during an online news briefing, in response to the joint statement released after US President Donald Trump and Japanese Prime Minister Ishiba Shigeru held the meeting in Washington DC on Feb 7.

According to the statement, the two leaders emphasized the importance of maintaining peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait.

Zhang said the joint statement grossly interfered with China's internal affairs and made unfounded smears and accusations against China.

The spokesman pointed out that Taiwan is China's Taiwan, and that any military provocation of the US will not change this fact, pointing to the two US warships, the destroyer USS Ralph Johnson and survey ship USNS Bowditch, which transited the Taiwan Strait from Monday to Wednesday.

"On the contrary, such US actions exposed its hypocrisy and double standard to the international community, and bolstered the resolve and will of the Chinese people to safeguard our national sovereignty and realize national reunification," he said.