Top Chinese diplomat Wang Yi used a call with his French counterpart to say the two sides needed to back each other, underscoring Beijing’s push to win diplomatic backing during a spat with Japan.
Wang said in the call Thursday with the French president’s diplomatic adviser, Emmanuel Bonne, that Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi had “made provocative remarks related to Taiwan” this month.
Beijing and Paris should “firmly support each other on issues involving each other’s core interests,” Wang said, according to a statement from the Foreign Ministry in Beijing. “I hope that the French side will continue to firmly abide by the one-China principle.”