History leaves no room for Japan’s provocation on Taiwan question
Japan’s Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi. /CFP
Japan’s Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi has ignited one of the most acute political shocks to China-Japan relations since the normalization of diplomatic ties in 1972.
By asserting “Chinese mainland’s use of force against Taiwan could trigger the deployment of Japan’s Self-Defence Forces if the conflict posed an existential threat to Japan,” she has crossed a line no postwar Japanese leader has dared to approach in an official setting. Her remarks are not only provocative–they mark a jarring departure from Tokyo’s own post-1945 commitments and the legal-political framework underpinning bilateral relations for over half a century.
History leaves no room for ambiguity. On October 25, 1945, the ceremony to accept Japan’s surrender in Taiwan Prov...
