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Less than a month after assuming office, JapanPrime Minister of Sanae Takaichi She is facing her first foreign policy crisis – in which she has been apparently threatened with graphic violence by a senior Chinese envoy.
Relations between the two East Asian economic giants have deteriorated dramatically after Ms Takachi told her country’s parliament that Japan might come. taiwanSupport with “warships and the use of force” if a Chinese attack on the island also threatened Tokyo’s interests.
While Japan has kept a close watch on the President Xi Jinping threatens to “reunify” Taiwan with the Chinese mainland by forceif necessary – Japan’s nearest island to Taiwan is just 100 km away. and visible from across the ocean on a clear day – this has previously mitigated the idea of getting involved in a military conflict.
Ms Takaichi’s swift departure from this policy angered Beijingwhich responded by urging its citizens not to travel to Japan, leading to the cancellation of trips by approximately 500,000 tourists within a few days. Japan has also now warned its citizens to take precautions for their safety during travel. China,
But perhaps the sharpest reaction so far came from China’s Consul General in Osaka, who issued a graphic threat saying China had no choice but to cut off any “filthy necks” that “intruded”. its affairs with taiwan,
The crisis has already hurt share prices in Japanese companies that are most dependent on the millions of Chinese citizens visiting each year in sectors ranging from travel to retail. And while experts say relations between the two countries are strong, what happens next could have serious implications for both economies.
so far a Defiant Ms Takaichi has refused to back down Her statement merely assured the Japanese parliamentary committee that she would avoid talking about specific scenarios in the future.
Experts say the two countries’ relations are at their worst level since the standoff in a 1972 joint statement reaffirming the foundation of their diplomatic ties.
Alan Carlson, an associate professor of government at Cornell University, says China “took great exception to Takaichi’s comments” and threatened to go further than its existing retaliatory measures. “The Japanese refused to withdraw the offensive statements, but have made some efforts to defuse the situation, although so far without placating Beijing. As a result, both countries now stand on a knife’s edge.”
Chinese foreign policy expert Mr. Carlson told Independent The feud “underscores how volatile the security situation in Asia is becoming, and how dynamic central Taiwan is”.
Behind the scenes, diplomats from the two countries held talks in Beijing on Tuesday aimed at finding a way out of the crisis. But much now depends on how Ms Takachi presents the situation publicly.
“Prime Minister Takachi is unlikely to retract her statements, but there is a possibility she may make a generous gesture to allow Beijing to step down,” said Philip Shetler-Jones, senior research fellow on Indo-Pacific security at the Royal United Services Institute (RUSI).
He said the visit to Beijing by Masaaki Kanai, the Japanese Foreign Ministry official in charge of Asia and Oceania affairs, was an important step toward reducing tensions.
“There appears to be a process underway between governments to find a way to deal with tensions through diplomatic channels rather than signaling through punitive actions, such as the PRC advising against travel to Japan and warning Chinese students in Japan,” Mr. Shetler-Jones said.
While the tourism sector has been badly hit, he said relations between Japan and China are still mostly resilient in areas such as trade and investment, noting it is not the first time such rhetoric has been exchanged before ending in a few months.
He suggests that resolving the current crisis may not be so easy due to Beijing’s special sensitivity over the Taiwan issue.
“The dispute over Japan’s position on the Taiwan contingency is likely to persist for a long time as Japan is in the process of updating its security strategy, deepening ties with South Korea, and exploring new capabilities and defense cooperation with the United States, all of which are unwanted developments from Beijing’s perspective,” Mr. Shetler-Jones said.
Luke D Pulford, a human rights campaigner and co-founder of the Inter-Parliamentary Coalition on China, argued that Ms Takachi could hardly be blamed for the crisis and should toughen it up in the face of Chinese aggression.
He pointed out, “Beijing’s bark is always worse than its bite, and their economic threats against other countries hurt China more than anything else. It’s really ridiculous that Beijing is trying to show that they are the wrong party when their Consul General issued violent threats towards Takachi.” Independent,
“If there has been any damage to diplomatic relations, it has to do with the extreme and inappropriate rhetoric of China’s wolf warrior in Osaka, not Tokyo’s stance,” he said.