Chinese Vice Foreign Minister Sun Weidong has issued a serious rebuke to Japanese Ambassador Kenji Kanasugi over Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi's recent statement on Taiwan, the Chinese Foreign Ministry said.
According to the Chinese Foreign Ministry website, Sun Weidong summoned Kenji Kanasugi on November 13. “China once again urges Japan to reflect deeply on its historical guilt, immediately review and correct its mistakes, withdraw its outrageous statements and refrain from further wrong steps. Otherwise, Japan will bear all the consequences”, he stressed vice minister.
Sun Weidong called the Japanese prime minister's remarks on Taiwan “provocative“ and “extremely dangerous“ and expressed strong protest, noting that Beijing views such statements as gross interference in China's internal affairs, a serious violation of generally accepted legal norms and actions that undermine the post-war international order. He said that in this way Tokyo is undermining the political foundation of Sino-Japanese relations and “hurting the feelings of the Chinese people“.
“The 1.4 billion people of China will categorically not tolerate this! The Taiwan issue is the quintessence of our country's core interests, a red line and a border that must not be crossed“, the vice minister stressed. “Eighty years ago, the heroic Chinese people defeated the Japanese invaders after 14 years of bloody struggle. Today, 80 years later, anyone who dares to interfere in any way with the unification of China will certainly receive a decisive rebuff!“
Earlier, Sanae Takaichi stated that a possible military crisis near Taiwan would pose an “existential threat“ that could force Japan to invoke its “right of collective self-defense“. This caused strong discontent in Beijing, which made a serious objection to Tokyo. In addition, the Chinese Consul General in Osaka, Xue Jian, threatened to behead the Japanese Prime Minister, although this post was later deleted.
Taiwan has been governed by its own administration since 1949, when the remnants of the Kuomintang forces led by Chiang Kai-shek (1887-1975) withdrew to the island after losing the Chinese Civil War. Since then, Taipei retains the flag and some other attributes of the former Republic of China that existed on the mainland before the communists came to power. According to Beijing's official position, supported by most countries, including Russia, it is one of the regions of the PRC.