Top Chinese diplomat weighs in on Takaichi’s ‘shocking’ Taiwan remarks

Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi on Sunday became the country’s highest-ranking official to publicly weigh in on its row with Tokyo over Taiwan, criticizing Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi’s “shocking” remarks that Japan could intervene militarily in a crisis over the democratically ruled island.

“It is shocking for a sitting Japanese leader to openly send a wrong signal of attempting to intervene militarily in the Taiwan question,” Wang said, calling the issue “a red line that should not have been touched,” according to a statement posted to his ministry’s website.

“China must resolutely hit back — not only to safeguard its sovereignty and territorial integrity, but also to defend the hard-won postwar achievements secured with blood and sacrifice,” he added.

Beijing has demanded that Takaichi retract the remarks in the weeks since Takaichi broke with years of precedent by hinting in parliament on Nov. 7 that Tokyo could provide military support for Taiwan under certain “worst-case” scenarios that would constitute a “survival-threatening situation” for Japan — thus meeting the criteria needed for the Self-Defense Forces to be mobilized under the right to collective self-defense.

But the prime minister rebuffed these demands, emphasizing that there has been no change to her country’s stance on how it would respond to a major regional security crisis.

The row is their biggest since 2010, when they clashed over the Japanese-administered Senkaku Islands, which are also claimed by China.

China has slowly turned the economic screws, delivering travel warnings to citizens planning to visit Japan and students studying in the country, but the row has also creeped into other areas including a reported halt in approvals for new Japanese films.

The economic powerhouse has also effectively reimposed an import ban on Japanese seafood products that was initially put in place after Tokyo’s decision to release treated wastewater from the Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant into the Pacific Ocean in 2023.

Some fear a move to cut off Japan’s supply of critical rare earth minerals — much like it did in the 2010 row — could be another card China may play. Experts, however, have said that such a move would be risky, jeopardizing its detente with the U.S. and alienating other trade partners.

On Friday, Beijing also raised the issue at the United Nations, vowing to defend itself if Japan "dared to intervene militarily in the Taiwan Strait” in a letter delivered to the body. Japan’s Foreign Ministry on Sunday called the letter “incompatible” with past judgments made at the U.N.

The move by China was seen as part of an attempt to rally global support for its position on Taiwan, which Beijing views as a renegade province that must be unified with the mainland, by force if necessary.

Wang, who delivered his remarks following a meeting with three Central Asian nations, also played up their support for China’s position while taking aim at Japan.

“The Japanese government has made solemn commitments on the Taiwan question in the four political documents between China and Japan, which … leave no room for ambiguity or misinterpretation,” he said.

“China urges Japan to reflect on its mistakes and correct them as soon as possible, and not remain obstinate,” Wang added.