What Right Does Japan Have to Pronounce About Taiwan?

The recently ensconced Japanese prime minister Sanae Takaichi began her early leadership with a major diplomatic gaffe when she said a Chinese attack on Taiwan could constitute “a survival-threatening situation” for Japan, requiring the use of force.

Beijing is apoplectic. Fu Cong, Beijing’s ambassador to the UN, accused Takaichi of committing “a grave violation of international law.”

Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi said, “It is shocking that Japan’s current leaders have publicly sent the wrong signal of attempting military intervention in the Taiwan issue, said things they shouldn’t have said, and crossed a red line that should not have been touched.”

Takaichi seems oblivious of Article 9 of Japan’s constitution which renounces war and forbids Japan from using force to settle international disputes.

Moreover, two of the principles agreed to in the 1972 Japan-China Joint Communiqué read:

2. The Government of Japan recognizes the Government of the People’s Republic of China as the sole legal Government of China.

3. The Government of the People’s Republic of China reiterates that Taiwan is an inalienable part of the territory of the People’s Republic of China. The Government of Japan fully understands and respects this stand of the Government of the People’s Republic of China, and it firmly maintains its stand under Article 8 of the Potsdam Proclamation.

Not only is Takaichi oblivious of the country’s constitution and the joint communiqué, but she is also seemingly oblivious of Japanese history.

A modernized and expansionist Japan went to war and defeated the Qing dynasty.  One requirement of the Treaty of Shimonoseki, 1895, was that China cede Taiwan to Japan.

Japan’s further expansionism and militarism led to its defeat after WWII. Thus, Japan would have to relinquish ill-gotten territories. The Cairo Declaration of 1943 states:

[A]ll the territories Japan has stolen from the Chinese, such as Manchuria, Formosa, and The Pescadores, shall be restored to the Republic of China.

This is affirmed by the Potsdam Proclamation of 1945:

The terms of the Cairo Declaration shall be carried out and Japanese sovereignty shall be limited to the islands of Honshu, Hokkaido, Kyushu, Shikoku and such minor islands as we determine.

The major historical documents clearly point to Chinese sovereignty over Taiwan.

Despite China having asked for clarification and a retraction of Takaichi’s erroneous remarks, no such clarification or retraction has been forthcoming.

Why would Takaichi even make such ignorant remarks? What did she hope to gain? Assuredly not an economic rupture of the economically challenged Japan from China.

A Thai news website headlined: “Japan hit hard as China imposes tourism sanctions amid diplomatic tensions.”

China’s travel sanctions following diplomatic tensions with Japan have triggered mass flight cancellations, severe tourism losses and a projected ¥2.2tn annual economic impact.

Japan has expressed remorse for its WWII atrocities, but no official government apology has ever been issued. Meanwhile, Japanese politicians, including Takaichi (although she skipped such a visit during the 2025 autumn festival) have continued to visit the Yasukuni Shrine, said to house the kami of Japanese dead, including class-A war criminals eliciting anger among countries violated by Japan during WWII.

Among the heinous crimes are the recruitment of ianfu (comfort women; i.e., sex slaves for Japanese military); the Rape of Nanking, the gore of Japanese militarism archived in the Memorial Hall of the Victims in Nanjing, China; and the gruesome experimentation on humans exhibited at the Unit 731 Museum in Harbin, China.

https://youtu.be/hn1LRaks6S4?si=S2m0NmA7UK1XalZv
Evidence of Japanese atrocities during the Rape of Nanking in a trailer for 2025 movie Dead to Rights

Japan has much to apologize and atone for. Yet Takaichi’s remarks indicate an apology and atonement is not soon forthcoming from Japan. This reflects poorly on the loser of WWII, a nation still occupied by the US military, a nation considered by many a vassal state — also echoed by US media.

Hanging onto American apron strings is unlikely to resurrect the Japanese economy, whereas entering into a mutually respectful relationship with the nearby soaring economy of China should bode well for a future prosperous Japan.

However, the nascence of a sovereign Japan starts with a sincere apology to all those nations and peoples Japan violated during WWII.

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China, Japan, Militarism, Taiwan, World War Two