Japanese urge retraction by Takaichi

More than a dozen Japanese scholars, former government officials and lawyers have urged Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi to immediately retract her erroneous remarks on China's Taiwan region, warning that her statements have raised concerns about a possible resurgence of militarism.

They said that Takaichi's remarks in Japan's parliament violated postwar international agreements and the China-Japan Joint Statement of 1972, and her refusal to retract the remarks will further strain Japan-China relations.

They made the remarks at a news conference held on Monday by the Association for Inheriting and Propagating the Murayama Statement, a Japanese civic group. The Murayama Statement was issued in 1995 by then Japanese prime minister Tomiichi Murayama to mark the 50th anniversary of Japan's surrender in World War II. In the statement, Murayama apologized to Asian victims of Japan's aggression.

"During a certain period in the not too distant past, Japan, following a mistaken national policy, advanced along the road to war, only to ensnare the Japanese people in a fateful crisis, and, through its colonial rule and aggression, caused tremendous damage and suffering to the people of many countries, particularly to those of Asian nations," he said in the statement.

Japan must "eliminate self-righteous nationalism, promote international coordination as a responsible member of the international community and, thereby, advance the principles of peace and democracy", the statement said.

According to a statement at the news conference on Monday, Takaichi's remarks in parliament clearly deviated from the basic position maintained by successive Japanese governments on the Taiwan question and marked the first time that a Japanese prime minister suggested in parliament that Japan might adopt a wartime posture in the event of a "Taiwan contingency", which could be seen as a revival of militarism.

The statement pointed out that the current tensions were triggered by the Japanese side, but Japan has adopted a "victim" posture that cannot help resolve the situation. It also said that Takaichi must acknowledge that the Taiwan question is China's internal affair and immediately retract her remarks.

The Taiwan-related commitments in the 1972 China-Japan Joint Statement were finalized after serious negotiations between the two sides, and China has consistently urged Japan to strictly abide by it, Kazuhiko Togo, an international political scholar and former diplomat, said at the news conference.

Takaichi should give this matter due attention, Togo said.

Political economist Kazuhide Uekusa said that after Takaichi made the remarks on Nov 7, she first claimed they did not reflect the government's unified view, but later insisted they were in line with Japan's long-standing diplomatic position, which Uekusa said is a self-contradictory stance.

"I have to say this looks like an attempt to muddle through the issue, or even change the subject," he said.

Uekusa urged Takaichi to stop downplaying or sidestepping the problem in her comments, and instead address and correct them in a humble and forthright manner.

Takakage Fujita, secretary-general of the Association for Inheriting and Propagating the Murayama Statement, said that since its founding in 2013, the association has been committed to reflecting on Japan's wartime aggression and colonial history and promoting the country's adherence to a path of peace and a nonwar stance. Takaichi's remarks regarding Taiwan have seriously deviated from Japan's postwar commitment to peace, Fujita said.

Masakatsu Adachi, a professor emeritus at Kanto Gakuin University, said that Takaichi's actions fundamentally strengthen "domestic information control and foreign intelligence gathering", which effectively pushes Japan toward war.