China has taken its widening spat with Japan to the UN, accusing Tokyo of threatening “an armed intervention” over Taiwan and vowing to defend itself in its strongest language yet in the two-week-old dispute.
Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi committed “a grave violation of international law” and diplomatic norms when she said a Chinese attack on Taiwan could trigger a military response from Tokyo, Chinese Permanent Representative to the UN Fu Cong (傅?) wrote in a letter on Friday to UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres.
“If Japan dares to attempt an armed intervention in the cross-Strait situation, it would be an act of aggression,” Fu wrote, according to a statement from China’s UN mission. “China will resolutely exercise its right of self-defense under the UN Charter and international law and firmly defend its sovereignty and territorial integrity.”
Photo: AP
The Japanese Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Prime Minister’s Office could not immediately be reached yesterday for comment on Fu’s letter, the strongest criticism of Takaichi yet from a senior Chinese official in the biggest bilateral crisis in years.
Takaichi, a conservative nationalist who took office last month, ditched the ambiguity that Japan and the US have long used regarding Taiwan when she told a questioner in parliament on Nov. 7 that a hypothetical Chinese attack on Taiwan — which is just over 100km from Japanese territory — could be deemed “a situation threatening Japan’s survival”.
That is a legal designation that allows a Japanese prime minister to deploy the nation’s military.
Takaichi’s remarks sparked the tit-for-tat dispute with China that has spilled beyond diplomacy in recent days, with China saying it has “severely damaged” trade cooperation, while concerts of Japanese musicians in China have been abruptly canceled.
Fu demanded that Japan “stop making provocations and crossing the line, and retract its erroneous remarks,” which he said were “openly challenging China’s core interests.”
Ahead of this year’s 80th anniversary of Japan’s World War II defeat, Beijing has increasingly invoked Tokyo’s wartime atrocities and China’s postwar role in setting up the UN as it criticizes its Asian neighbor and seeks to reshape the international governance system.
China, a permanent member of the UN Security Council, has repeatedly emphasized two postwar declarations envisioning that Taiwan and other territories that had been occupied by Japan would be “restored” to Chinese rule.
The Potsdam and Cairo declarations form the basis for China’s legal claims of sovereignty over Taiwan, although many governments view them as statements of intent, not legally binding accords.
In Taipei, Taiwan Security Association deputy secretary-general Ho Cheng-hui (何澄輝) yesterday said that China’s latest move is a typical “lawfare” strategy, aiming to distort international rules and change the narrative in order to justify its retaliatory actions.
In its legal warfare strategy, China primarily focuses on two points: first, the San Francisco Peace Treaty, and second, UN Resolution 2758.
However, both of these points lack legal foundation, he said.
Neither the Republic of China nor the People’s Republic of China participated in the signing of the 1951 San Francisco Peace Treaty, and in the treaty, Japan only renounced sovereignty over Taiwan, but did not specify its territorial affiliation, he said.
The content of UN Resolution 2758 only addressed the issue of China’s representation, aiming to expel the Chiang Kai-shek (蔣介石) regime at the time, Ho said, adding that the resolution makes no mention of Taiwan and does not involve the issue of Taiwan’s sovereignty.
Additional reporting by Fang Wei-li
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