Addressing the East Asia Summit in Cambodia, Kishida also said ensuring peace and stability in the Taiwan Strait was important for regional security, and voiced “serious concern” over the human rights situation in Uyghur, according to a statement issued by Japan’s foreign ministry.

“There has been continued, increasing actions by China in the East China Sea that violate Japan’s sovereignty. China also continues to take actions that heighten regional tension in the South China Sea,” Kishida told the meeting, according to the statement.

Kishida’s remarks follow those of US president Joe Biden, who stressed to Asian leaders today the importance of peace in the Taiwan Strait and ensuring freedom of navigation in the South China Sea.

China denies any abuses of the Uyghur, a mostly Muslim ethnic minority based in the far western Xinjiang region, and has sent a government delegation to Geneva to counter what it says are erroneous findings by the UN rights office.

Kishida is in Cambodia to attend the East Asian summit, which groups eighteen countries accounting for half of the global economy including Japan, the United States, China and Southeast Asian nations. He will also join the Group of 20 (G20) summit in Indonesia’s Bali that kicks off on Tuesday.