TOKYO – A senior Foreign Ministry official departed for China on Monday to calm the intensifying diplomatic spat triggered by Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi’s recent remarks on Japan’s potential response to a contingency in Taiwan.
In a meeting with the Chinese side expected to be held Tuesday, Masaaki Kanai, head of the ministry’s Asian and Oceanian Affairs Bureau, will stress that Takaichi has not altered Japan’s stance as stated in a 1972 joint communique, which recognized the People’s Republic of China as the sole legitimate government of China, government sources close to the matter said.
The Chinese Foreign Ministry said Friday it had summoned the Japanese ambassador in Beijing, Kenji Kanasugi, and demanded that Takaichi retract her remarks. Japan’s Foreign Ministry said the same day it lodged a similar protest over a recent social media post by a Chinese diplomat linked to the remarks.
Earlier this month, Takaichi said a Taiwan emergency involving the use of military force could constitute a “survival-threatening situation” for Japan.
Her remarks suggested such a situation could see Japan exercise its right to collective self-defense under the nation’s war-renouncing Constitution, angering China, which claims the self-ruled island as its territory.
Beijing believes the Taiwan issue is purely an “internal affair” for China.
In response, Chinese Consul General in Osaka Xue Jian threatened in a post on X to “cut a dirty neck without a moment of hesitation,” in an apparent threat to Takaichi over her remark.
Last week, the Chinese government urged its citizens to avoid visiting Japan while calling on those planning to study in Japan to carefully reconsider, citing safety risks.
