China State Councilor and Minister of Foreign Affairs Wang Yi speaks during the United Nations Security Council meeting at the United Nations Headquarters to discuss the conflict in Ukraine on September 22, 2022 in New York City.
Michael M. Santiago | Getty Images News | Getty Images
China’s Foreign Minister Wang Yi said it was “shocking” for Japan’s leader to openly send a wrong signal concerning Taiwan, according to an official statement on Sunday, the latest remarks in a row that has shaken relations for more than two weeks.
Wang, the most senior Chinese official to have commented publicly on the issue, said Japan was crossing a red line that must not be touched, according to the statement posted on the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs’ website.
He accused Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi of attempting to intervene militarily over Taiwan. Wang was referring to comments on November 7 in which she told a questioner in parliament that a hypothetical Chinese attack on democratically governed Taiwan could trigger a military response from Tokyo.
The ensuing row, the biggest China-Japan crisis in years, has spread to trade and cultural relations. On Friday China raised the issue with U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, vowing to defend itself.
Beijing views democratically governed Taiwan as its own territory and has not ruled out the use of force to take control of the island. Taiwan’s government rejects Beijing’s claims and says only the island’s people can decide their future.
Japan’s Foreign Ministry did not immediately respond on Sunday to a request for comment on Wang’s remarks. In response to the letter to the U.N., the ministry on Saturday dismissed China’s claims as “entirely unacceptable” and said Japan’s commitment to peace was unchanged.
Taiwan’s Foreign Ministry on Sunday condemned the letter to the U.N.
“The letter not only contains rude and unreasonable content but also maliciously distorts historical facts,” the ministry said in a statement.
“Furthermore, it violates Article 2(4) of the U.N. Charter, which prohibits the threat or use of force in international relations.”
Wang said that in responding to Japan’s move, “China must resolutely hit back – not only to safeguard its sovereignty and territorial integrity, but also to defend the hard-won postwar achievements secured with blood and sacrifice.”
If Japan “persists in its wrong course and continues down this path,” all countries and people have the right to “re-examine Japan’s historical crimes” and “resolutely prevent the resurgence of Japanese militarism”, he said.
China is Japan’s largest export market after the United States, buying about $125 billion of Japanese goods in 2024, mainly industrial equipment, semiconductors and automobiles, according to UN COMTRADE data.