Japan needs to safeguard Taiwan if China attacks, deputy prime minister states

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Japan must defend Taiwan if China invades, deputy prime minister says

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Japan’s deputy prime minister stated the nation required to safeguard Taiwan with the United States if the island was gotten into, Kyodo news company reported late on Monday, angering Beijing which relates to Taiwan as its own area.

China has actually never ever dismissed utilizing force to reunite Taiwan with the mainland and current military workouts by China and Taiwan throughout the Straits of Taiwan have actually raised stress.

“If a significant issue happened in Taiwan, it would not be excessive to state that it might associate with a survival-threatening circumstance [for Japan],” Japan’s deputy prime minister Taro Aso stated at a fundraising celebration by a fellow Liberal Democratic Party legislator, according to Kyodo.

A “survival-threatening situation” describes a scenario where an armed attack versus a foreign nation that remains in a close relationship with Japan takes place, which in turns positions a clear threat of threatening Japan’s survival.

Such a scenario is among the conditions that require to be fulfilled for Japan to exercise its right of cumulative self-defense, or concerning the help of an ally under attack.

“We need to think hard that Okinawa could be the next,” Aso was priced quote by Kyodo as stating.

Kuomintang soldiers in the foreground, with the Chinese city of Xiamen in the background in Lieyu, the closest point in between Taiwan and China on Feb. 4, 2021.An Rong Xu / Getty Images

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China foreign ministry representative Zhao Lijian stated at a routine press conference on Tuesday that Aso’s remarks “harmed the political foundation of China-Japan relations”, and China “resolutely opposed” them.

“No one should underestimate the Chinese people’s staunch resolve, firm will, and formidable ability to defend national sovereignty,” he stated.

China declares a group of Japanese-managed islets in the East China Sea. The small unoccupied islands, called the Senkaku in Japan and Diaoyu in China, are off Japan’s southern island of Okinawa.

Aso, inquired about Japan’s position on the cross-strait concern at a press conference on Tuesday, stated any contingency over Taiwan must be dealt with through discussion.

“We are closely monitoring the situation,” Aso, who functions as financing minister, informed press reporters.

Chief Cabinet Secretary Katsunobu Kato, when asked if Aso’s Monday remark remained in line with the federal government’s position, decreased to comment, stating he was not familiar with the Aso remark in information, however repeated Japan’s main policy on the matter.

“Japan hopes the Taiwan issue will be resolved through direct dialogue between parties concerned in a peaceful manner. That has been our consistent stance,” the leading federal government spokesperson stated.