Tokyo should change its ill-chosen course: China Daily editorial

In its eagerness to follow in the United States' footsteps to contain China, Japan has exhibited a growing penchant for interfering in the Taiwan question. The visit of former Japanese prime minister Taro Aso to Taiwan this week was just the latest effort in this regard.

Delivering a keynote speech at a forum in Taipei on Tuesday, Aso, who is vice-president of Japan's ruling Liberal Democratic Party, said Japan and its allies and partners need to convey the "will to fight" to deter Beijing from seeking to change the status quo in the Taiwan Strait. But as a staunch rightist, who has made ill-advised comments in the past when addressing sensitive issues such as the country's imperialist past and Japan's relations with neighboring countries, Aso's visit and remarks were intentionally provocative. He knows that Beijing perceives any high-profile visit to Taiwan by foreign dignitaries to be a breach of the one-China principle.

Such a ploy and political rhetoric are only meant to play up the Taiwan question to exert strategic pressure on Beijing. By actively engaging with Taiwan in this way, Japan's ruling LDP is implicitly supporting the island's claims for international recognition. This will further exacerbate the volatility in the region.

Until recently, Sino-Japanese relations had seen some improvement as a result of the two neighbors' efforts to bolster economic cooperation and diplomatic dialogue. But since Fumio Kishida became prime minister in 2021, those efforts seem to have been for nought. Under his leadership, the LDP reportedly wanted to clearly and unambiguously identify China as Japan's primary military threat in his government's national security and defense strategies, in a bid to make China the rationale for an unprecedented military expansion of postwar Japan. Under pressure from Komeito, its coalition partner, it backed off from that, but the LDP is still hyping a threat to regional peace from China as justification for the country's military buildup.

The ultraright sentiment festering in Japan in recent years has contributed to such a dramatic change. With Tokyo willing to act as a "deputy sheriff" of the US in the region, the efforts of Japan's right-wing politicians to free Japan of the postwar restrictions on its military have received the backing of Washington. This has further fueled the rightist sentiment in Japan.

But with the Taiwan question being a key flashpoint in the region, the LDP should be mindful of the consequences of interfering in it. It is not something to be trifled with. The Taiwan question is purely China's internal affair, and Beijing will not allow anyone to interfere in it. No one should underestimate the resolve, the will and the ability of the Chinese people to defend their national sovereignty and territorial integrity.

Amid the shifting global dynamics, escalating tensions between China and Japan's ally, the United States, and the complex regional situation, Japan would undoubtedly benefit from the Kishida government reining in its militarization ambitions and upholding the principles set out in the four political documents between Tokyo and Beijing.