Beijing has dismissed Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi’s latest remarks on Taiwan as “prevarication”, warning that it “absolutely does not accept” her continued refusal to retract comments made in early November.
On Wednesday, Takaichi appeared to attempt to dial down weeks of tensions when she told a parliamentary questioning session that Tokyo’s “fundamental position regarding Taiwan remains unchanged from that stated in the 1972 Japan-China Joint Communique, and there has been no change whatsoever to this position”.
However, she did not mention the contents of that document. She also did not, despite Beijing’s repeated insistence, withdraw her November 7 comment to parliament that an attack on Taiwan by the People’s Liberation Army could constitute a “survival-threatening situation” for Japan – one that could allow Tokyo to mobilise its military.
Those remarks made Takaichi the first Japanese leader since World War II to publicly link a Taiwan contingency with the possible deployment of Japan’s Self-Defence Forces, and soon sent relations with Beijing into a downward spiral.
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Why have Takaichi’s Taiwan comments sent China-Japan ties into a tailspin?
Why have Takaichi’s Taiwan comments sent China-Japan ties into a tailspin?
The day after her purported clarification, Beijing insisted that Japan “correct its wrongdoing”, indicating that nothing short of a retraction would suffice.
“Prime Minister Takaichi is still prevaricating by claiming that the Japanese side’s position remains unchanged. China absolutely does not accept this,” foreign ministry spokesman Lin Jian said on Thursday when asked about her latest comment.
