A Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokesperson is shown denouncing Japan. Chinese media have been criticizing Japan daily.
Apparently, the Chinese government is incensed by Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi's remarks in the Diet regarding a Taiwan contingency. Recently, its official representatives have repeatedly criticized Japan at the United Nations and elsewhere. China is even seeking to intimidate Japan by citing the now-obsolete former enemy clause in the UN Charter.
Beijing's self-righteousness and obnoxious persistence toward Japan and its leader have wearied the world. Although neither Japan nor the international community takes its accusations seriously, the Japanese government must continue to offer accurate counterarguments.
China Tries Rewriting the Facts
China's ambassador to the UN, Fu Cong, has twice delivered letters to UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres. In both, he demanded that Japan's prime minister retract her statement. One letter contends that this is "the first time Japan has expressed ambitions to intervene militarily in the Taiwan question." That was revealed on the website of China's permanent mission to the United Nations on November 21.
In response to the first Chinese letter, Japan's ambassador to the United Nations, Kazuyuki Yamazaki, sent a letter of rebuttal to Guterres. He explained that the Prime Minister's remarks referred to how Japan might react if "China's possible use of force against Taiwan could amount to a so-called survival-threatening situation." That is a prerequisite for exercising the right of collective self-defense, including in the event of an attack on the US military, because the US is an ally of Japan. Moreover, this would only occur in the context of self-defense, which is recognized by the UN Charter.
Likewise, Ambassador Yamazaki responded to the Chinese envoy's second letter, adding that, "China's assertion that Japan would exercise the right of self-defense even in the absence of an armed attack is erroneous."
It is hardly surprising that Guterres has not endorsed the charges in the Chinese letters.
China has also sought support for its criticism of Japan among Western European nations and elsewhere. But few countries have lined up to back its position. About the only major country that has aligned itself with China on this issue is Russia. And Russia, a dictatorship like China, is currently carrying out a military invasion of its neighbor, Ukraine.
Contradictions From Beijing's Ambassador to Tokyo
The Chinese embassy in Japan, not to be outdone by its UN ambassador, has also "warned" about one of the nations defeated in World War II, "gravitating in its behavior towards aggressive policies."
Among its posts on X, the embassy has declared that in such a case, the nations that founded the UN, including China, "have the right to take direct military action," based on the former enemy nation clause. However, the fact is that a resolution calling for the early removal of the former enemy country clause was passed by an overwhelming majority at the UN General Assembly 30 years ago. With that vote, the clause in question became a dead letter resolution.
China also omitted to mention that it voted for that very same resolution.
Fate of the Postwar Rule of Law and Order
Now, however, it is threatening Japan with the use of armed force. Beijing's outrageous conduct furthermore violates the Japan-China Joint Communique issued at the time of the normalization of diplomatic relations. It states that Japan and China shall "settle all disputes by peaceful means and shall refrain from the use or threat of force."
In another X post, the Chinese embassy also declared the San Francisco Peace Treaty to be an "illegal and invalid document." The Prime Minister had cited the treaty in the party leaders' November 26 debate in the Diet.
In Article II of the treaty, Japan renounces all rights to Taiwan, which had been a Japanese colony for 50 years. However, it did not mention the island's ownership. The same treaty is one of the foundations of the postwar international order.
Its denial of these facts has exposed China's true nature. It is a regime that does not respect the existing international order based on law and rules.
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(Read the editorial in Japanese.)
Author: Editorial Board, The Sankei Shimbun
