The Japanese government rebuffed criticism made on the weekend by China's top diplomat Wang Yi that parliamentary remarks by Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi on a Taiwan contingency challenge China's sovereignty.
In response to Wang's remarks Saturday at an international security conference, Japanese Foreign Minister Toshimitsu Motegi said the claims are "not based on facts," in the latest series of criticisms exchanged between the two Asian nations.
Tokyo-Beijing ties have worsened following Takaichi's remarks in November suggesting Japan's defense forces could act in the event of a contingency involving Taiwan, which China sees as a renegade province to be reunified with the mainland, by force if necessary.
Such remarks "directly challenge China's sovereignty," Wang told a session at the Munich Security Conference joined by leaders and ministers from European countries. He also asserted that Japan is attempting to revive its past militarism from World War II.
The comments were made after Takaichi's Liberal Democratic Party and its coalition partner won over two-thirds seats of the House of Representatives following a snap general election on Feb 8.
Wang's claims of provocation come amid concerns in Beijing that Takaichi, known as a security hawk, could bolster Japan's defense capabilities and accelerate deliberations on amending its postwar pacifist Constitution.
Motegi refuted the remarks, stating separately at the conference that "Japan's stance of contributing to peace and stability in the international community is widely recognized."
Japan's top government spokesman said Monday in Tokyo the government has made a formal protest through a diplomatic channel, as Wang's statements are factually inaccurate and lack any basis.
Tokyo's "efforts to strengthen its defense capabilities are in response to an increasingly severe security environment and are not directed against any specific third country," Chief Cabinet Secretary Minoru Kihara told a press conference.
Japan's stance of expecting the Taiwan issue to be resolved peacefully through dialogue remains unchanged, he added.
© KYODO
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WiseOneIn Kansai
Wang as usual, spitting out more fake narratives!! What an embarrassment every time he talks.
The main aggressor in Asia is China!!
Peeping_Tom
Teeny tiny Wang.
Robert Merlote
China Foreign Minister Wang Yi actually said re Japan's PM invoking a "Taiwan contingency":
“Try gambling again, the loss will be faster and more devastating (then the ww2)”
Robert Merlote
China Foreign Minister Wang Yi actually said re Japan's PM invoking a "Taiwan contingency":
“Try gambling again, the loss will be faster and more devastating (then the ww2)”
https://x.com/i/status/2023329310392942875
JJE
FM Wang hit the nail on the head at Munich, and his factual and measured speech in general was well received by the audience. Only Tokyo reacted negatively with this dummy spit, unable to hack being called out publicly at such a high-profile event. Like a toddler hurling items from a pram, the tantrum continues even after the event. The diplomatic protest over a factual speech to an international audience demonstrates the level of wounded pride.
mii
This was not what Takaichi said. Extremely disappointed in what Japan did recently that is extremely dangerous to make china publicly an enemy of Japan. Look what English speaking koizumi said and behaved at the conference. He was linking East Asia to the NATO as if he were an European. That doesn't make Japan stronger, only stupider.
JJE
This is demonstrably false. Resolving it peacefully means facilitating peaceful reunification. Tokyo is doing the precise, aggressive opposite.
Agent_Neo
Japan will not be affected at all if China restricts tourists, stops importing seafood, or stops exporting rare earths.
It is important for Japan to understand that all of China's harassment will come back to haunt it.
It would be very welcome if Japan were determined to once again crush China, the tyrant of Asia.
However, just like in the case of a Taiwan emergency, this is merely a hypothetical scenario that would not happen unless China invades Taiwan.
Why is Foreign Minister Wang Ji so red in the face as he refutes such hypothetical scenarios?
Peter14
Japan is doing no such thing, they call that, "making something out of nothing". China is pushing its horrific narrative again, that ROC seceded from PRC when history shows ROC already existed before PRC, and the Communists seceded from ROC. CCP is responsible for the two China situation, but cant own up to it, and blames ROC for its continued existence.
They aren't, but the question would be, why do you want war so much your willing to lie about it?
mii
Look, English is bad, no doubt about it. What crush china again? Whenever did Japan do it in history ?
mii
Really? Then China has to correct its own problem.
mii
Really? Than thanks to China.
isabelle
The only challenge to sovereignty here is by the PRC: threatening peaceful, independent, sovereign Taiwan.
As ever, Taiwan cannot be "reunified" with the PRC, as it has never been part of the PRC at any point in history. If the PRC takes Taiwan, it would be an illegal annexation.
This is an indisputable fact, no matter what JT's resident Fifty Centers may spout.
No, Japan isn't. Japan has been completely peaceful for 80 years, and it will stay that way unless China attacks Taiwan (or tries to take the Senkakus).
Wang should remember that the CCP has been engaged in militarism throughout its entire existence, not only threatening/attacking its neighbors (such as Tibet), but also causing the deaths of tens of millions of its "own" [sic] people.
isabelle
This is Japan's stance, and it has not changed. Takaichi said that Japan may respond militarily if China attacks Taiwan. Absent Chinese aggression, no response will be needed.
Taiwan, Japan, and almost all other countries want peaceful dialogue. But Xi doesn't: he refuses to speak to Taiwan's democratically-elected DPP, and instead engages in threats and aggression.
Agent_Neo
Victory in the Sino-Japanese War! What was the Treaty of Shimonoseki?
Victory in the Sino-Japanese War! China couldn't beat Japan on its own, so Mao Zedong had to flee lol.
Does China not teach the history of its defeat by Japan?
We also lost to Britain in the Opium Wars.
We also lost to Vietnam.
China has never defeated a country bigger than itself.
rivx
CCP throwing tantrums…well done Japan for standing up against terrorist China
quercetum
Why did Japan surrender in China then?
DeeZee
Wang Yi is a Japan expert who can speak Japanese with fluency, He understands the true nature of the Japanese mindset. Japan runs on Bushido and does not respect "nice" or "friendly". Making Japan submit means punishing the country until it is almost dying and then when Japan is barely alive then China can withdraw the sword and make the Japanese leadership call Xi daddy. This is the path Japan wants to walk then China will gladly give it to them.
mii
Myopia, defeated becomes victorious. In the history of man kind, Japan never won because such stupidity. Won a battle does not mean won a war. Worship war crime is itself a crime. If you prefer a neighbor to destroy your house and become a new master, then it is your freedom to choose and call it a crushing win. Through history of 8000 years, Chinese culture deeply rooted and enriched East Asia, not through wars but through humanity.
isabelle
Then, it's a great shame that he wastes these talents, and instead spends his time spouting CCP lies and propaganda.
isabelle
The PRC has existed for less than 80 years, so less than 1% of the above.
If you want to go back further, you would have to acknowledge the existence of the ROC, which has been around longer, and has governed Taiwan since before your PRC even existed.
I suspect such acknowledgment would prove inconvenient for you.
"Not through wars?"
Perhaps if you completely ignore all its wars, and the ones it still threatens to start (such as the one in the article).
mii
Stupid people have no cure, colonial mentality to blame. China never deny its own history, and ROC is a part of it.
mii
Of course justice war is justified. War against occupation, war against separation are justified sovereignty right. From history perspective, china never feared wars, and have thousand of them. That is why Takaichi is so stupid to scare Chinese with wars.
isabelle
So, do you acknowledge that the ROC has governed Taiwan since before your PRC even existed, and still does today?
And that the PRC has never governed Taiwan, so logically cannot "reunify" with it, since it's never been "unified" with it in the first place (only the ROC has)?
If you deny the above, you are denying history.
USNinJapan2
What pearl-clutching drama queens the nation of China has become. The transparent propaganda spewed here on this forum by the usual China apologists are sounding increasingly more desperate and detached from reality with each new CCP tantrum.
Eric Liu
Wang Yi also issued two reminders: First, the Japanese people must be cautioned not to be blinded or coerced by far-right forces and extremist ideologies once again. All peace-loving nations must also send a warning to Japan: if it chooses to retreat into its past ways, it is courting self-destruction. If they choose to gamble again, they will only face a faster defeat and a more miserable loss!
Eric Liu
The Japanese government and its people are operating under a false sense of confidence. If a real war were to erupt, they would face a devastating defeat; after all, this is not the world of 80 years ago.
Peeping_Tom
"3. Economic and Resource Vulnerability
Because Japan is "small," it is almost entirely dependent on sea lanes for food and energy.
• The Blockade Risk: As we see in the current 2026 tensions, China’s navy (PLAN) is now large enough to potentially squeeze Japan’s supply lines in the South China Sea.
• Energy: Japan imports over 90% of its energy. A small island nation with no natural resources cannot sustain a long-term conflict against a continental power that has land-based energy pipelines from Russia and Central Asia."
The same is applicable to China.
China is food and energy dependent; energetically at the tune of 70% dependency!
It depends on exports to survive.
Its population is ageing even faster than Japan's.
China's navy can be blocked in the Strait of Malacca and would be lucky to survive any attempted crossing of the Miyako Strait with all those Type 12 batteries, Tomahawks. Aegis Destroyers, Submarines, smart torpedoes and mines Japan has got in store for them.
You don't have to believe me!
Just ask AI, like you did for your previous post.
Clayton K. Char
Methinks thou protests too much! This is all for show and the target audience is China's own people. There is economic and social unrest in China and the CCP needs to keep it under control. This is their way of diverting peoples' attention from their current hardships.
kaimycahl
@JJE A speech in a room in which he appears to be putting up a number count of the total number of people in the room! LOL
FM Wang hit the nail on the head at Munich, and his factual and measured speech in general was well received by the audience. Only Tokyo reacted negatively with this dummy spit, unable to hack being called out publicly at such a high-profile event. Like a toddler hurling items from a pram, the tantrum continues even after the event. The diplomatic protest over a factual speech to an international audience demonstrates the level of wounded pride.
TaiwanIsNotChina
I notice how your printout doesn't mention that China will also be old and grey before you know it. And poor, too.
TaiwanIsNotChina
Press freedom don't lie, and the mainland has never seen any of it.
Eric Liu
US already admits that it wants to avoid the conflicts with China.
Little brother Japan, open your eyes until it’s too late!
Hiro S Nobumasa
Senior State Minister Wang Yi can make PM Sanae Takaichi's speech null and void in a blink of an eye by simply declaring that the PROC will give special diplomatic recognition to the ROC-Taiwan asap.
President Xi Jin Ping will automatically win the Nobel Prize.
The Year of the Horse will then bring a galloping prosperity not only to China but to Asia in particular and the whole world in general.
Hiro S Nobumasa
Senior State Minister Wang Yi can make PM Sanae Takaichi's speech null and void in a blink of an eye by simply declaring that the PROC will give special diplomatic recognition to the ROC-Taiwan asap.
President Xi Jin Ping will automatically win the Nobel PEACE Prize.
The Year of the Horse will then bring a galloping prosperity not only to China but to Asia in particular and the whole world in general.
1glenn
If this is how upset they get by a foreign leader expressing herself, imagine how hard they come down on their own citizens expressing themselves.
In some ways I admire China, but when it comes to free speech and democracy, they are losers.
John-San
I dislike Wang diplomatic attitude but it’s not as bad has Basset, ludwick, and co. They are supposed to represent democratic values unlike Wang who is full blow communist. But I prefer Wang over Fascist pushing boot lickers any day.