Press Releases
Attendance of State Minister for Foreign Affairs KUNIMITSU to UN Security Council High-Level Open Debate
April 28, 2026
On April 28 (local time on April 27 ), Dr. KUNIMITSU Ayano, State Minister for Foreign Affairs of Japan, attended the Security Council High-Level Open Debate on “The Safety and Protection of Waterways in the Maritime Domain,” chaired by the Kingdom of Bahrain, and delivered a statement on behalf of the Government of Japan, as summarized below.
- State Minister KUNIMITSU stated that the seas and the oceans allow us to live and prosper and that safety of passage must be upheld as reflected in the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea.
- In this context, State Minister KUNIMITSU stated that the current situation in the Strait of Hormuz has served as a potent reminder of the vital importance of free, open, and stable maritime routes for our lives and economic activities. She also emphasized that safe and free navigation of merchant and commercial vessels in the Strait, which is an international public good and a crucial foundation for the global trade network, must be respected in accordance with international law. She also welcomed the decision made by the IMO Council in March in respect of the establishment of a framework such as a safe maritime corridor, proposed by Japan.
- In addition, stressing that attention must also be paid to the Indo-Pacific, State Minister KUNIMITSU stated that Japan remains seriously concerned about the situation in the East China Sea and the South China Sea, and reiterated Japan’s strong opposition to any unilateral attempts to change the status quo by force or coercion, including the repeated obstruction of the freedoms of navigation and overflight.
- Finally, State Minister KUNIMITSU stated that Japan has been a strong advocate of the concept of “Free and Open Indo-Pacific (FOIP)” for the past 10 years and has been working closely with the UN system to provide capacity-building to maritime nations. In closing, she stated that Japan will continue to work closely with the United Nations and its member states to maintain and reinforce a free and open maritime order based on the rule of law, to ensure the safety of navigation, and to foster a stable and prosperous global maritime environment for generations to come.
