The Chinese Embassy in Tokyo has warned its citizens against traveling there Japan be warned. “Japanese politicians have recently openly made provocative statements regarding Taiwan, which significantly damaged the atmosphere of people-to-people exchanges,” the embassy said via Chinese online service Wechat. There were “significant risks to the personal safety and lives of Chinese citizens in Japan,” he said.
China’s Foreign Ministry and foreign missions in Japan have “firmly” instructed their citizens not to travel to Japan in the near future.
Japan’s Chief Cabinet Secretary Minoru Kihara said China’s warning was “inconsistent with efforts to promote strategic and mutually beneficial relations,” the Jiji Press news agency reported. The Japanese government has China asked to take “appropriate action”.
Japan’s head of government has promised possible military support for Taiwan
The latest tensions were triggered by statements by Japan’s new Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi about the possibility of deploying his country’s military for defense. Taiwan. Takaichi said in parliament last week that a military escalation in the Taiwan conflict, for example through the use of Chinese warships, could also threaten Japan’s existence. In the event of such a “worst-case scenario,” the head of government did not rule out using Japanese troops and cited the right to “collective self-defense.”
China’s consul general in Osaka, Xue Jian, later threatened in an online post that he would “cut Takaichi’s dirty neck without hesitation” because of his comments on Taiwan. The post was later deleted again.
On Friday, the foreign ministries in Beijing and Tokyo summoned the other countries’ respective ambassadors. “If anyone dares to interfere in China’s unification process in any way, China will definitely retaliate harshly,” the Chinese Foreign Ministry said on its website. Japan expressed “strong protest against the highly inappropriate comments” made by the Chinese Consul General to the Chinese ambassador.
China views Taiwan as a breakaway province that must be reunited with the mainland – if necessary by military force.
