China takes Japan's Taiwan remarks to UN as tensions rise

Beijing [China], November 22 : Tension between China and Japan has sharply escalated after Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi made strong remarks in parliament early this month about a possible security threat from China over Taiwan. Beijing has now taken the matter to the United Nations, accusing Japan of making "erroneous" statements, Global Times reported.

China's Permanent Representative to the UN, Fu Cong, on Friday wrote a formal letter to UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, outlining Beijing's position on the "erroneous words and deeds" of Japanese Prime Minister Takaichi concerning Taiwan.

The letter responds to Takaichi's comments on November 7, where she said that any "use of force on Taiwan" by China could become a "survival-threatening situation" for Japan.

Following these comments, China reimposed its recently lifted ban on Japanese seafood imports and issued a travel alert for Chinese citizens visiting Japan.

Fu said in his letter that Takaichi's comments were unprecedented since Japan's surrender in 1945. According to him, this is the first time a Japanese leader has linked Taiwan to Japan's collective self-defence rights and suggested armed involvement. He described her remarks as "extremely erroneous, highly dangerous, and extremely malicious."

He added that Japan had ignored China's repeated protests and continued defending its position. Calling the remarks a violation of international law and a challenge to the post-war order, Fu said the statements were offensive to "more than 1.4 billion Chinese people" as well as Asian nations that suffered under Japanese aggression during World War II, Global Times reported.

"The letter will be issued as an official document of the UN General Assembly and distributed to all member states," as per Global Times.

Fu also warned that if Japan "dares to resort to armed intervention" in the Taiwan Strait, China would treat it as "an act of aggression" and exercise its right to self-defence under the UN Charter.

He reminded Japan of its status as a defeated nation in World War II. He said Tokyo must "deeply reflect on its historical guilt," honour its commitments on the Taiwan issue, and withdraw its comments. He also repeated his earlier criticism that Japan is "totally unqualified to seek a permanent seat on the Security Council."

Tokyo has rejected Beijing's call for Takaichi to retract her remarks. Japan has argued that its statements reflect national security concerns and are based on its own interpretation of regional threats.

Meanwhile, US Ambassador to Japan George Glass criticised China's ban on Japanese seafood imports and travel alert for Chinese citizens. Speaking to reporters after a meeting with Japanese Foreign Minister Toshimitsu Motegi, Glass said China's actions were "provocative" and its economic steps amounted to "coercion."

"China's moves are very unhelpful and undermine regional stability," he said, calling it "a classic case of Chinese economic coercion," according to Kyodo News.

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