UN envoy calls on Takaichi to retract erroneous remarks

China's Permanent Representative to the United Nations Fu Cong on Monday urged Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi to retract her comments about Taiwan being a potential military contingency for Japan, and "refrain from continuing down the wrong path".

"At a time when the international community is jointly reflecting on history and planning for the future, it is outrageous that Takaichi has gone against the trend by claiming that the so-called survival-threatening situation for Japan is linked to Taiwan of China, and by implying and threatening that Japan would militarily intervene in the Taiwan question," Fu said at the UN Security Council.

Last month, Takaichi told Parliament that a "Taiwan contingency" could constitute a "survival-threatening situation" for Japan, and could prompt military action. She became the first postwar Japanese prime minister to issue a clear threat of force to China.

Her comments received immediate pushback and concern from Beijing and the international community.

"The lessons of World War II are still fresh," Fu said.

"Over the past 80 years, generation after generation has been working tirelessly for peace and speaking out for justice. As we stand at the starting point of the next 80 years, confronted with a world marked by transformation and turbulence, the questions before us are clear: Where is the world headed? Where is peace to be found?

"We must uphold fairness and justice and lay a solid foundation for lasting peace. Militarism and fascism once brought unprecedented catastrophes to humanity. Any erroneous remarks and acts to whitewash or overturn the history of aggression challenge the bottom line of human conscience and undermine the hard-won peace," Fu said.

"We must uphold a correct view of the history of World War II, safeguard the victorious outcomes of World War II, and defend the postwar international order. We must adhere to the purposes and principles of the UN Charter; uphold the sovereign equality of all states, large and small; oppose unilateralism, hegemonism and power politics; advance the democratization of international relations; and enhance the representation and voice of developing countries in international affairs."

Fu was speaking at a Security Council Open Debate on Leadership for Peace, during which former UN secretary-general Ban Ki-moon pressed members to confront both the external crises facing the UN and internal constraints that have weakened its ability to act.

"This deeply disappointing situation is characterized by confrontation rather than cooperation among major powers," Ban said, citing the Russia-Ukraine conflict, mass civilian casualties in Gaza and weakening international cooperation — even as the global climate crisis accelerates.

"The Security Council's ongoing failure to properly function constitutes the most egregious cause," he said, highlighting the repeated use of veto by permanent members "to shield themselves, their allies and their proxies from accountability".