Beijing/Tokyo, Feb 20 (.) China warned Japan on Friday that any attempt to intervene militarily in the Taiwan Strait under the banner of “collective self-defense” would constitute aggression after Tokyo’s leadership reiterated concerns over Beijing’s growing regional assertiveness.
China’s permanent representative to the United Nations, Fu Cong, said any Japanese involvement in the Taiwan issue would trigger a firm response from Beijing.
“No matter what pretext Japan uses to exercise ‘collective self-defense’ to intervene in the Taiwan question, it would constitute aggression against China, and China will resolutely respond,” Fu said.
“It is alarming that recently, the Japanese leaders have defied the historical trend by openly linking China’s Taiwan region to Japan’s “survival-threatening situation”, and speculating on responses based on the Japan-US alliance, attempting to use so-called “collective self-defense” rights to intervene the militarily in the Taiwan question,” he said.
He said that such fallacies are legally untenable and asserted that Taiwan is an inalienable part of China’s territory.
He said that how to resolve the Taiwan question is China’s internal affair.” No other country has the right to interfere, much less use force for so-called “self defense”. These fallacies betray Japan’s international obligations as a defeated nation, violating the obligations stipulated in the Cairo Declaration, the Potsdam Proclamation and the Japanese Instrument of Surrender. These erroneous claims violate the fundamental principles enshrined in the UN Charter for respect of national sovereignty and territorial integrity of all nations and non-interference in internal affairs, and constitute a grave provocation against the post-war international order. Such erroneous claims should arouse vigilance and opposition from all peace-loving nations,” the envoy said.
The remarks came after Japanese Foreign Minister Toshimitsu Motegi, speaking at his first press conference since being reappointed on Wednesday, stressed the importance of peace and stability in the Taiwan Strait. Motegi criticized what he described as China’s “attempt to change the status quo with force,” adding that stability in the waterway was critical.
Taiwan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs welcomed Motegi’s comments. In a statement, Taiwan Foreign Minister Lin Chia-lung said he “welcomed and affirmed” Japan’s position, noting that Tokyo had repeatedly raised cross-strait concerns at major international forums.
Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi, fresh from securing a landslide victory in this month’s lower house election, used her first post-election speech to parliament to warn of what she called growing Chinese “coercion.” She pledged to revise Japan’s defence strategy, ease restrictions on military exports and strengthen critical supply chains.
“Japan faces its most severe and complex security environment since World War Two,” Takaichi said, citing China’s expanding military activity, closer security ties with Russia and North Korea’s advancing nuclear missile capabilities.
Takaichi said her government would revise Japan’s three core security documents this year and accelerate a review of rules limiting military exports.
Takaichi has also continued a military build-up launched in 2023 aimed at doubling Japan’s defence spending to 2% of gross domestic product by the end of March. She announced plans to establish a national intelligence council chaired by the prime minister to consolidate information gathered across agencies.
TUNI .