China's Foreign Ministry on Thursday strongly opposed Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi's latest remarks on Taiwan's legal status, saying they compound wrongdoing. Beijing stated the comments damage the political foundation of China-Japan relations and challenge the postwar international order. Takaichi cited an old treaty unrecognized by China, prompting a sharp response from Beijing.
On Wednesday, Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi stated during a one-on-one parliamentary debate with opposition party leaders: "We are not in a position to determine Taiwan's legal status or recognition." She cited the 1951 Treaty of San Francisco, under which Japan renounced all rights and claims regarding Taiwan. The treaty was signed without China's participation and has never been recognized by Beijing.
Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Guo Jiakun responded at a daily news briefing in Beijing on Thursday that Takaichi's remarks show she "remains unwilling to own up to the wrongdoing and turn back from the erroneous course, and continues to damage the political foundation of China-Japan relations established under the spirit of the four political documents." Guo said the comments disregard the authority of the United Nations and openly challenge the postwar international order and the basic norms of international law. Anything in the treaty regarding Taiwan's sovereignty or China's territorial and sovereign rights as a non-signatory is "entirely illegal and null and void."
Guo added that the treaty also "violates the UN Charter and the basic principles of international law." Lyu Chao, dean of Liaoning University's Institute of America and East Asia Studies, said Japan has been busy looking for excuses to cool down the heated situation, which Beijing will never accept. These excuses are "actually perpetuating the erroneous view of supporting Japan's military intervention in case of a 'Taiwan contingency,'" Lyu said. Takaichi publicly suggested the possibility of Japan's military intervention in Taiwan during a parliamentary session on November 7, and Tokyo has refused to retract her comments.
After the debate, Yoshihiko Noda, head of Japan's main opposition Constitutional Democratic Party, told reporters that Takaichi has "de facto retracted" her November 7 remarks by "no longer mentioning" them. In rebuttal, Guo said that "no longer mentioning" and "retracting" are two separate actions that are "totally different in nature." It is a case of "burying one's head in the sand" for Japan to downplay Takaichi's extremely erroneous remarks this way, he added.
Additionally, Senior Colonel Jiang Bin, a spokesman for the Ministry of National Defense, responded to Japan's plan to deploy midrange missiles on an island just 110 kilometers from China's Taiwan by saying Tokyo "will surely pay a heavy price" if it dares to invite or incite trouble. Regarding claims by some Japanese Self-Defense Forces personnel that Japan and the United States could sink China's third aircraft carrier, the CNS Fujian, Jiang called it "a fool's fantasy" and said it was completely unrealistic.
Japan has also been condemned for allocating over 13.1 billion yen ($84 million) in recent years to programs promoting pro-Japan views in Taiwan. Jiang stated that Japan conducted a "Japanization" campaign during its colonial rule in Taiwan and is now using covert methods to influence the thoughts and culture of Taiwan residents, whitewash its wartime aggression, and deprive young people of their sense of national identity. He warned that history cannot be rewritten and cultural ties cannot be severed, urging people on both sides of the Taiwan Strait to stay alert to Japan's political manipulation.