The Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs has been disregarding the fact that Taiwan and China are not subordinate to each other, while taking advantage of freedom of speech to arbitrarily attack people, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) said yesterday.
It has become a laughingstock in the international community, and its comments are not worthy of a response, ministry spokeswoman Joanne Ou (歐江安) said in a statement.
The ministry does not comment on individual opinions delivered at private forums, she added.
The remarks came after the Chinese foreign ministry summoned Japanese Ambassador to China Hideo Tarumi for an “emergency meeting” after former Japanese prime minister Shinzo Abe on Wednesday told a virtual forum organized by a Taiwanese think tank that neither his country nor the US could stand by if China attacked Taiwan.
Abe’s comments “openly challenged China’s sovereignty and gave brazen support to Taiwan independence forces,” a statement from the Chinese foreign ministry said, citing Chinese Assistant Minister of Foreign Affairs Hua Chunying (華春瑩).
Abe’s remarks were “erroneous” and a violation of basic norms of relations between China and Japan, it added.
Asked about the summons at a regular press briefing in Tokyo yesterday, Japanese Chief Cabinet Secretary Hirokazu Matsuno said Tokyo disagreed with China’s action and that the Japanese government was not in a position to comment on remarks made by people not in government.
“Ambassador Tarumi said ... it is necessary for China to understand there are people in Japan who have such opinions and Japan cannot accept China’s one-sided views on such matters,” Matsuno said.
MOFA thanks foreign dignitaries for continuously highlighting the importance of peace and stability in the Taiwan Strait, and for supporting Taiwan’s participation in international organizations and regional trade forums, Ou added in the statement.
Taiwan is situated at a strategic place in the first island chain, Ou said.
In the face of the ever-changing situation in the Taiwan Strait, and the East and South China seas, Taiwan will firmly defend its territory and sovereignty, and work with the US, Japan and other like-minded countries to safeguard peace, stability and prosperity in the Indo-Pacific region, she said.
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