Disagreements between Japan and China are increasing after Prime Minister Tokyo Takaichi said the conflict in Taiwan could trigger the deployment of the Land of the Rising Sun's armed forces.
New Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi said a Chinese attack on Taiwan could prompt the deployment of her country's self-defense forces if the conflict posed a threat to Japan, The Guardian writes.
Beijing reacted angrily after new Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi said an attack on Taiwan could prompt the deployment of her country's self-defense forces if the conflict posed an existential threat to Japan.
Emphasizing that Japan can exercise its right to collective self-defense – or support an ally – Takaichi said Tokyo must “expect the worst-case scenario” in the Taiwan Strait.
She told a parliamentary committee that if Taiwan's emergency involves “warships and the use of force, it could constitute a situation that threatens Japan's survival no matter how you look at it.”
“The so-called emergency in Taiwan has become so serious that we must anticipate the worst-case scenario.”
Japan quietly surpassed Russia and China to become the main threat to the US
Beijing does not rule out the possibility of using force to unify the island of Taiwan, which it considers a province of China.
The scandal intensified over the weekend after China's Consul General in Osaka, Xue Jian, wrote in a post on social media platform X linked to an article about comments about Taiwan: “We have no choice but to cut off this dirty neck that attacks us without hesitation. Are you ready?”
Officials in Tokyo condemned Xue's post, which was later deleted, as “highly inappropriate.”
“We strongly protest and call for an immediate reversal,” senior Japanese government official Minoru Kihara told reporters this week, adding that he was “aware of many other inappropriate comments” by Xue.
The dispute arose shortly after Japanese Prime Minister Takaichi, a conservative with hawkish views on China, met Chinese leader Xi Jinping at the APEC summit in South Korea, where they promised to build a “constructive and stable” relationship.
On Monday, Takaichi, who became Japan's first female prime minister last month, refused to back down but told lawmakers she would be cautious when it comes to specific security situations.
Japan has long grappled with the question of how it would respond to a conflict between China and Taiwan, which lies just 100 kilometers from its westernmost island of Yonaguni in the East China Sea, The Guardian writes.
Although Japan's postwar constitution prohibits the country from using force to resolve international disputes, a law passed in 2015, when Takaichi's adviser Shinzo Abe was prime minister, allows the country to exercise “collective self-defense” in certain situations, even in the absence of direct attack.
This scenario most likely involves Japanese support for US-led military action in the region, The Guardian notes.
Lin Jian, a spokeswoman for China's Ministry of Foreign Affairs, said Xue's post was a response to Takaichi's “illegal and dangerous” comments about Taiwan.
“China urges Japan to reflect on its historical sins in the Taiwan issue and stop sending any wrong signals to the forces fighting for Taiwan's independence,” he said.
Karen Kuo, a spokeswoman for Taiwan's presidential office, said the Taiwan government “takes seriously the threatening statements made by Chinese officials against Japan. Such behavior clearly exceeds the limits of diplomatic protocol.”
In a post on social media platform
This latest controversy comes just a week after Beijing accused Takaichi of “serious” behavior during a meeting with senior adviser to Taiwanese President Lai Qingde on the sidelines of APEC.
