‘No intention of changing stance,’ says Japan PM Takaichi after China backlash over Taiwan comments

TOKYO, Nov 11 — Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi has stood by her recent remarks suggesting Japan could become involved in a Taiwan contingency, even as Beijing’s anger over her comments escalated into a diplomatic row, The Japan Times reported.

Speaking before the Lower House Budget Committee yesterday, Takaichi said she had “no intention” of changing the government’s official position but admitted her earlier remarks had gone further than intended.

“I gave a somewhat concrete answer while considering the worst-case scenario,” she said. 

“From now on, I’ll refrain from making explicit statements on specific scenarios.”

Her comments last Friday — in which she said a Chinese naval blockade of Taiwan could “by any measure, constitute a situation that could be deemed a threat to Japan’s survival” — marked the first time a sitting Japanese leader had spelled out what kind of conflict could justify military involvement under Japan’s 2015 security legislation.

That law, introduced under former prime minister Shinzo Abe, allows Japan’s Self-Defence Forces to act in collective self-defence if three conditions are met, including when an armed attack threatens the nation’s survival and no other means of protection exist.

During Friday’s Diet debate, Takaichi’s remarks drew sharp criticism from Opposition lawmakers, with Constitutional Democratic Party MP Hiroshi Ogushi warning: “This is about whether or not the nation will be driven into war. We can’t afford to leave it ambiguous.”

Beijing’s reaction was swift and incendiary. 

China’s Consul General in Osaka, Xue Jian, posted on X that China had “no choice but to cut off her dirty neck without any hesitation.” 

The Japan Times said Japan lodged an official protest through its Foreign Ministry and embassy in Beijing, demanding the post’s removal and an explanation. The post was deleted by Sunday evening.

However, Chinese Ambassador to Japan Wu Jianghao reignited tensions the next day, declaring that “fuelling the notion that ‘a crisis in Taiwan is a crisis for Japan’ and seeking to bind Japan to China’s war tanks will ultimately lead only down a path of no return.”

According to The Japan Times, China’s Foreign Ministry also filed a formal complaint against Japan over Takaichi’s remarks, adding to a series of diplomatic strains between the two neighbours.

The controversy comes just days after Takaichi’s meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping, where she had sought to project a more conciliatory tone. 

But her subsequent meeting with a Taiwanese representative during a summit in South Korea appeared to have further provoked Beijing.

Takaichi’s position — which echoes the hawkish line of Liberal Democratic Party figures such as Taro Aso, who previously said an emergency in Taiwan would also be an emergency for Japan — marks a notable departure from the caution exercised by her predecessors.