Foreign Ministry: If Japan dares to intervene militarily in the Taiwan Strait situation, China will certainly retaliate forcefully.
2025-11-13 16:23:33 Source: Guancha.cn
On November 13, Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Lin Jian hosted a regular press conference.
A reporter asked about Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi's recent remarks regarding a potential existential crisis for Japan if mainland China were to use force against Taiwan. According to reports, Takaichi stated during a parliamentary debate that her remarks reflected the Japanese government's views and that she had no intention of retracting or canceling them. What is China's comment on this?
Lin Jian stated that Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi recently made blatantly provocative remarks about Taiwan in the Diet, hinting at the possibility of military intervention in the Taiwan Strait. Despite China's strong protests and serious representations, she remained obstinate and refused to retract her statements. These erroneous words and actions seriously violate the one-China principle, the spirit of the four political documents between China and Japan, and the basic norms of international relations. They constitute gross interference in China's internal affairs, challenge China's core interests, and infringe upon China's sovereignty.
"China firmly opposes this and will never tolerate it. Japan must immediately correct its mistake and retract its egregious remarks; otherwise, Japan must bear all the consequences," Lin Jian said.
This year marks the 80th anniversary of the victory of the Chinese People's War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression and the World Anti-Fascist War, as well as the 80th anniversary of Taiwan's retrocession. Japan once exercised colonial rule over Taiwan, committing countless crimes. Throughout its history, Japanese militarism has repeatedly used the pretext of a so-called "crisis of survival" to launch foreign aggression, including brazenly creating the "September 18 Incident" under the pretext of "exercising the right of self-defense," provoking the war of aggression against China, and bringing profound disaster to the people of Asia, including China, and even the world.
"What is the true intention behind Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi's renewed mention of the so-called 'existential crisis' today? Is she trying to repeat the mistakes of militarism? Is she trying to once again become an enemy of the Chinese and Asian people? Is she attempting to subvert the post-war international order?"
Lin Jian reiterated that Taiwan is China's Taiwan, and how to resolve the Taiwan issue and achieve national reunification is a matter for the Chinese people themselves, which brooks no interference from any external forces. The Japanese authorities' attempt to intervene in cross-strait affairs is not only a blatant trampling on international justice and an open provocation against the post-war international order, but also a serious damage to Sino-Japanese relations.
"If Japan dares to intervene militarily in the Taiwan Strait situation, it will constitute an act of aggression, and China will certainly retaliate forcefully. We will resolutely exercise the right of self-defense granted to us by the UN Charter and international law, and firmly defend national sovereignty and territorial integrity. We solemnly warn Japan that it must deeply reflect on its historical crimes, immediately cease its erroneous words and deeds of interfering in China's internal affairs and provoking and crossing the line, and not play with fire on the Taiwan issue, for those who play with fire will get burned," Lin Jian said.
According to a previous report by Kyodo News, on November 7 local time, Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi, during her first meeting of the House of Representatives Budget Committee since taking office, claimed that if an armed conflict broke out in the Taiwan Strait, it "could be considered a 'life-or-death crisis'."
At the time, Constitutional Democratic Party lawmaker Katsuya Okada asked during a questioning session: "Under what circumstances would a 'contingency in Taiwan' pose an existential threat to Japan?" Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi responded: "We will take all information into consideration and make a judgment based on the specific circumstances of each incident. I believe that if China uses force, this would be a 'life-or-death crisis' for Japan."
According to Japan's revised security laws of 2015, a so-called "existential crisis" refers to a situation where a "foreign country" with close ties to Japan is attacked militarily, and if the attack, if left unchecked, would pose a clear threat to Japan's survival, Japan can exercise its right of collective self-defense. This means that once the Japanese government designates a situation as an "existential crisis," the Japanese Self-Defense Forces can unilaterally take military action without prior consent from the United States. Furthermore, Kao Ichi's remarks also included Taiwan within the scope of "foreign countries."
In response to Sanae Takaichi's fallacies, Wu Jianghao, China's ambassador to Japan, also solemnly pointed out on the X platform that Taiwan is an inseparable part of China, and how to resolve the Taiwan issue is a matter for the Chinese people themselves. Inciting "if something happens to Taiwan, something happens to Japan" is an attempt to bind Japan to the war chariot of splitting China, which will ultimately lead to a dead end.
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