Key points
- Japan’s PM suggests troops for Taiwan defence
- China demands retraction of Japanese remarks
- Beijing warns Japan of potential consequences
BEIJING, China: China said on Friday it summoned the Japanese ambassador over remarks the country’s new prime minister made about Taiwan.
Last week, Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi told Japan’s parliament that armed attacks on Taiwan could warrant sending troops to support the island under “collective self-defence,” reports AFP.
If an emergency in Taiwan entails “battleships and the use of force, then that could constitute a situation threatening the survival (of Japan), any way you slice it”, Takaichi told parliament.
Beijing insists Taiwan is part of its territory and has not ruled out the use of force to seize control of the self-governing island.
Vice Foreign Minister Sun Weidong summoned the Japanese ambassador to China Kenji Kanasugi, on Thursday, according to a statement published on Friday on Beijing’s foreign ministry website.
Takaichi’s remarks
He made “serious demarches over Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi’s erroneous remarks regarding China”, the statement added.
Beijing’s foreign ministry on Thursday also slammed Takaichi’s remarks and said it “will by no means tolerate” it.
“The Japanese side must correct its wrongdoing at once and retract the unjustified remarks,” spokesman Lin Jian told reporters at a press briefing.
“Otherwise, all the consequences arising therefrom must be borne by the Japanese side,” he added.
In response to Takaichi’s comments, the Chinese consul general in Osaka, Xue Jian, threatened on Saturday in a now-removed post on X, to “cut off that dirty neck without a second of hesitation”.
He did not name Takaichi but quoted a news article about her remarks.
