Prime Minister Takaichi moved to cool tensions by declaring that Japan still maintains its long-standing stance on China’s sovereignty over the island of Taiwan.
“The basic position of the Japanese government towards Taiwan remains the same as stated in the 1972 Japan-China Joint Declaration and this position has not had any changes,” Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi said today, responding to a question from a member of parliament.
In the 1972 Joint Declaration, Beijing “reaffirmed that Taiwan is an inseparable part of Chinese territory” and the Japanese government “fully understands and respects that position”.
Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi spoke during a plenary session of the Japanese Senate in Tokyo on December 3. Image: AFP
The joint statement also stated that Japan “firmly maintains its position according to Article 8 of the Potsdam Declaration”. Along with the Cairo Declaration of November 1943, these two documents are often cited by Beijing as legal treaties supporting Taiwan’s status as part of China.
The latest comments from Prime Minister Takaichi come nearly a month after she told parliament that an attack on Taiwan could constitute a “life-threatening situation” that would force Tokyo to take military action.
Ms. Takaichi’s statements on November 7 were the clearest statement from a sitting Japanese prime minister on how the country might respond when an incident involving Taiwan occurs, and marked a major change from the strategic ambiguous stance that Tokyo previously pursued.
This statement pushed Japan-China relations into crisis, causing Beijing to ask Prime Minister Takaichi to withdraw the statement, which she refused to do.
However, the statement on December 3 is considered a clear attempt to cool tensions. It also echoed a statement from Foreign Minister Toshimitsu Motegi on November 28 that the Japanese government’s basic position was “exactly as stated in the 1972 Joint Declaration, nothing more and nothing less”.
However, the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs still considered Mr. Motegi’s statement to be evasive and superficial.
“They didn’t even fully reiterate the Japanese side’s stance,” Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Lin Jian said on December 1. “Japan only pays lip service while acting unilaterally and arbitrarily, which is completely unacceptable to China.”
China always views the island of Taiwan as an inseparable part of its territory and is willing to use all measures to unify the island. Chinese leaders have also repeatedly affirmed that they do not rule out the use of force to reclaim the island, although the general policy is still dialogue and peaceful unification.