Chinese Ambassador to Japan Wu Jianghao makes comments about Taiwan at a roundtable discussion held at the Chinese Embassy in Tokyo on May 20. (©Sankei by Tomo Kuwashima)
Chinese Ambassador to Japan Wu Jianghao made an appalling attempt to coerce by threatening to use military force against Japan and its people. He recently stated that if Japan joined forces with those "seeking to split China," the Japanese people would be "dragged into the fire."
Ambassador Wu made similar remarks at a press conference shortly after taking up his post in April 2023. His remarks drew protests from the Japanese government at that time.
This time his incendiary outburst came on May 20, the day that Lai Ching-te was inaugurated as Taiwan's new president. He made the statement during a symposium held at the Chinese embassy in Tokyo.
Wu reiterated China's position that while doing everything possible to achieve peaceful unification with Taiwan, Beijing would never categorically renounce the use of force as an option. It was at that point that he used the expression "dragged into the fire" to intimidate the Japanese people.
Preconditions are beside the point. Someone who threatens that the Chinese military will attack and kill Japanese citizens is clearly unqualified to be a diplomat.
Wu's statement also flew in the face of Article 1 of the Japan-China Treaty of Peace and Friendship. In the treaty, the two sides affirmed that "they will use peaceful means to settle all disputes and will refrain from the use of force or threats of the use thereof."
Can such an ambassador be expected to conduct normal diplomacy with Japan?
Intemperate Remarks
Shouldn't Wu retract his statements and apologize? Were a foreign diplomat stationed in China to make a similar statement, China would no doubt arouse the ire of the Chinese people. In all likelihood, China would severely criticize and promptly expel the offending diplomat.
Wu's intemperate remarks have left a sour taste among the Japanese public. Just as he did in 2023, Representative Jin Matsubara, former chairman of the National Public Safety Commission and independent member of the Lower House, has urged the government to declare Wu persona non grata (diplomatic undesirable) and expel him from Japan.
At a press conference, Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshimasa Hayashi criticized Wu's statement as "extremely inappropriate." He further revealed that an official protest had been lodged through diplomatic channels. However, that alone is insufficient.
Wu should have been called in. Moreover, the protest should have been delivered to him personally and a retraction and apology demanded.
We will be watching closely the response from the Chinese side. Additionally, it may become necessary to demand that its ambassador to Japan be replaced and Wu sent packing.
Diplomacy in Seoul
Prime Minister Fumio Kishida recently went to Seoul for a trilateral summit with the top Chinese and South Korean leaders. He should have demanded that Wu be sacked before agreeing to meet one-on-one with Chinese Premier Li Qiang.
When Wu made his controversial remarks, former prime minister Yukio Hatoyama, Shaminren (Social Democratic Party) head Mizuho Fukushima, and several retired officials of the foreign ministry were in attendance. However, unfortunately not one of them chose to speak out when Wu made his threat. Incredibly, Hatoyama said, "I basically agree with Ambassador Wu."
These attendees should be ashamed of themselves for seeking to curry favor with the Chinese government rather than stand up for the people of Japan.
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- EDITORIAL | Expel the Chinese Ambassador for Threatening the Japanese People
(Read the editorial in Japanese.)
Author: Editorial Board, The Sankei Shimbun
