Comments made a month ago by Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi that triggered a diplomatic spat with China over Taiwan appear to have been unscripted, based on documents obtained by a lawmaker.
Tensions between Tokyo and Beijing have flared since Takaichi said in parliament on Nov. 7 that a Taiwan crisis might constitute a “survival-threatening situation” for Japan — a classification that would provide a legal justification for Tokyo to deploy its military alongside other countries if they chose to respond.
A script the government prepared for Takaichi in advance of her testimony showed that the planned response for any queries related to Taiwan was for her to decline to comment on hypothetical situations such as a Taiwan crisis, according to documents obtained by opposition lawmaker Kiyomi Tsujimoto.
Photo: Reuters
Bureaucrats in Japan regularly prepare answers for Cabinet members before they take questions in parliament or at news conferences. The discrepancy between the prepared response and Takaichi’s actual comment suggests she veered off-script from official policy.
Beijing has sought a retraction of her comments, but she has refused to do so, saying that the government’s position on Taiwan remains unchanged.
“The Cabinet Secretariat’s response was the same as that of previous administrations, and she should have said she would refrain from answering hypothetical questions about a Taiwan emergency,” Tsujimoto said after posting images of the script on X.
The script prepared by bureaucrats includes both questions submitted in advance by lawmakers and the recommended responses. The prime minister was advised to stay somewhat vague in discussing Taiwan, the images showed.
The Cabinet Secretariat declined to confirm over the phone the authenticity of the documents posted on Tsujimoto’s X account, but acknowledged disclosing documents to her.
Tsujimoto, in pressing the Cabinet Office for more information, obtained a written response that said the prime minister’s answers in parliament were largely in line with the government’s stance.
“Prime Minister Takaichi repeatedly said that ‘the government will make a judgement based on all available information, based on the specific circumstances of that situation,’ which is aligned with the government’s stance on the matter,” that document read, according to Tsujimoto.
Japanese Chief Cabinet Secretary Minoru Kihara deflected a question on whether Takaichi’s Taiwan comments were prepared beforehand, asking reporters to direct such questions to the relevant department.
Although Takaichi has refused to recant her comments, she said in parliament last month that she learned her lesson and would avoid speaking about specific scenarios.
Still, Takaichi’s comments triggered furious retaliation from Beijing in what has become a deepening dispute.
The Chinese government has warned its citizens against traveling to Japan, submitted letters of complaint to the UN and urged other states to back its “one China” principle.
Tokyo has claimed that at least one Chinese fighter jet trained fire-control radars on Japanese fighter jets on Saturday last week, while Beijing retorted by saying the Japanese fighter jets interfered with its military training exercises.
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