Japan reacts to Chinese threat over Taiwan

Tokyo has rebuked Beijing’s ambassador for suggesting that the Japanese people could be “brought into the fire”

Japan has issued a complaint against the Chinese ambassador to Tokyo after the envoy warned that the Japanese people will be “brought into the fire” if their government plots to support a Taiwanese independence movement.

“We consider it to be extremely inappropriate for an ambassador stationed in Tokyo to make such a comment, and we have immediately lodged a severe protest against it,” Japanese Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshimasa Hayashi told reporters on Wednesday.

Hayashi added that Japan’s government has consistently called for issues surrounding Taiwan to be resolved peacefully, through dialogue. “Peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait is important not only for the security of our country, but also for the stability of the international community as a whole,” he said.

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Hayashi made his comments in response to a warning issued by Chinese Ambassador Wu Jianghao, who spoke on Monday about a Japanese delegation’s attendance at the inauguration of newly elected Taiwanese President Lai Ching-te. “Once the country of Japan is tied to the tanks plotting to split China, the Japanese people will be brought into the fire,” Wu told an audience that included former Japanese Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama.

Chinese officials have called Lai a “dangerous separatist” and have bristled at visits by US lawmakers and other foreign politicians to Taipei. Beijing has vowed to reunify with Taiwan – a self-governing island that it regards as a breakaway province – by force, if necessary.

Sino-Japanese tensions have escalated in recent months. The Chinese government summoned the Japanese and Philippine ambassadors in April, after their leaders attended a summit in Washington and accused Beijing of “dangerous and aggressive behavior” in the South China Sea.

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The latest row comes just days before Chinese, Japanese and South Korean leaders are scheduled to hold a trilateral summit in Seoul. The Chinese Embassy in Tokyo stressed the importance of Sino-Japanese relations, saying, “the Taiwan issue is the core of China’s core interests. It is related to the political foundation of China-Japan relations and the basic trust between the two countries. It is an insurmountable red line.”

The Taiwanese Foreign Ministry praised Hayashi’s rebuke of the Chinese ambassador on Wednesday, saying it “welcomes the international community’s attention to the situation in the Taiwan Strait and any actions that will help maintain regional peace.”