Fallout continues after Japanese prime minister mentioned use of power in opposition to Taiwan can be ‘survival threatening’ for Japan.
Revealed On 5 Dec 2025
Japan and China have escalated their war of words on the United Nations following unprecedented remarks from Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi about Tokyo’s position in a possible Taiwan battle.
Japan’s ambassador to the UN wrote to Secretary-Normal Antonio Guterres on Thursday, disputing allegations from Beijing that Takaichi had violated “the fundamental norms governing worldwide relations” whereas talking to the Japanese Weight loss plan final month.
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“The assertions contained therein are inconsistent with the info, unsubstantiated, and are categorically unacceptable,” UN ambassador Kazuyuki Yamazaki wrote.
The letter marks the second time Japan has written to Guterres on the difficulty in as many months. Each occasions have been in response to separate letters from China to the UN about Takaichi.
The dispute started in November when Takaichi instructed Japanese legislators that ought to China ever use power in opposition to Taiwan, the transfer would represent a “survival-threatening scenario” for Japan, in accordance with Japanese media.
Taiwan and Japan shouldn’t have diplomatic relations, however they’re shut neighbours and unofficial allies. Their legislators additionally often have interaction in party-to-party conferences.
Nonetheless, consultants say that Takaichi’s feedback marked a break in custom for Tokyo, which is usually extra circumspect on Taiwan points.
“This has been the unofficial place of Japan and the unstated place of Japan for a few years, however prime ministers simply don’t say it [out loud],” Jeffrey Corridor, a lecturer in Japanese research at Kanda College of Worldwide Research, instructed Al Jazeera.
Taiwan, a self-ruled democracy, is claimed by Beijing, which has pledged to at some point annex it by peace or by power amid an ongoing navy modernisation marketing campaign. Beijing considers points surrounding Taiwan to fall inside its inner affairs.
Along with the UN letters, a Chinese language diplomat in Osaka implied in a now-deleted social media publish that Takaichi ‘s head ought to be minimize off over her remarks on Taiwan, in accordance with the Reuters information company.
Chinese language state media have additionally began posting articles questioning Japan’s claims to Okinawa and the Ryukyu Islands, in what has been described on-line as “geopolitical trolling”.
Takaichi, like her late mentor Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, has advocated for a stronger Japanese navy – often known as its “self-defence power” – and revising the nation’s post-war pacifist structure.
Whereas the choice to rearm remains to be controversial inside Japan, the current dispute with China has helped to boost Takaichi’s recognition, in accordance with Corridor.
The Japanese public has been displeased that Beijing has tried to equate up to date Japan with its World Battle II previous, he instructed Al Jazeera, when the Empire of Japan brutally colonised massive swaths of East and Southeast Asia.
Fu Cong, China’s everlasting consultant to the United Nations, alluded to Japan’s historic legacy in his second letter to the UN this week about Takaichi.
He known as Takaichi’s remarks “faulty”, including they “brazenly problem the victorious outcomes of World Battle II and the post-war worldwide order and represent a critical violation of the needs and ideas of the Constitution of the United Nations”.
