Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi rebuffed demands from China to retract her recent comments about Taiwan, saying there was no change to Tokyo’s stance on how it would respond to a major regional security crisis.
Takaichi became the first sitting Japanese leader in decades to publicly link a Taiwan Strait crisis with the possible deployment of Japanese troops, prompting a furious response and economic retaliation from Beijing.
Since then, she has limited herself to the more vague positions and reiterated that stance yesterday to reporters before departing for a G20 meeting in South Africa.
Photo: AFP
“Regarding a situation threatening Japan’s existence, the government will make a comprehensive judgement based on all available information, taking into account the specific circumstances of each actual situation as it arises,” Takaichi said. “I myself have repeatedly stated this position in my responses. The government’s stance remains consistent.”
While Chinese officials, state media and diplomats have mounted an intense effort to pressure her to retract her comments, Takaichi and her senior officials have sought to dial down tensions and move beyond the issue.
So far that approach has come up short.
Japan should “correct the wrongful remarks and wrongdoings at once, and take practical steps to honor its commitments to China,” Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokeswoman Mao Ning (毛寧) said yesterday.
Takaichi said she wanted to continue to try and improve relations after she met with Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) at the APEC summit in South Korea last month.
“President Xi and I confirmed the broad direction of comprehensively advancing our strategic and mutually beneficial relationship, and building a constructive and stable relationship. There has been no change whatsoever in this stance,” Takaichi said.
China is set to be represented at the G20 by Premier Li Qiang (李強), but there are no plans for him to meet with Takaichi.
A meeting between Japanese and Chinese diplomats earlier this week appeared to have done little to soothe tensions.
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