Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi today said that she would not retract her recent statement that Japan could mobilize armed forces if China uses force against Taiwan, despite inciting anger from Beijing, Japanese media reported.
On Friday last week, Takaichi told a parliamentary session that armed Chinese aggression against Taiwan “could constitute a survival-threatening situation” for Japan.
Security laws would then allow Japan to mobilize forces for "collective self-defense" if an attack on an ally or a country closely related to Japan is deemed to threaten Japan’s survival, even without a direct attack on the country.
Photo: Reuters
Today, Takaichi said her comment was referring to the “worst-case scenario” for Taiwan.
As it echoed the views of the Japanese government, Takaichi said she would not retract the statement.
However, she did vow to exercise greater caution when commenting on a “Taiwan contingency” in the future.
The comment attracted anger from China, which spurred further public discourse on Japanese social media, local media reported.
Xue Jian (薛劍), consul general of the People’s Republic of China in Osaka, said on X yesterday that if Japan “dares to intervene” in the Taiwan situation, China would not hesitate to “cut their dirty throats,” adding: “Have you really thought this through?”
The post appeared to have been removed yesterday, although not before attracting attention among Japanese users, media reported.
Tokyo has already stated its strong opposition to Xue's statement, Japanese newspaper The Mainichi reported.
This morning, Japan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs said it is closely monitoring the situation.
Sankei Shimbun said that it had reached out to the Osaka Consul General to ascertain Xue’s motive in writing the post, although it had not yet responded.
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