By Zhong Sheng

Japan's new Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi recently remarked in a Diet debate that a Taiwan emergency could constitute a "survival-threatening situation" warranting Japan's exercise of the right of collective self-defense, implying Japan's possible military involvement in the Taiwan Strait. Her remarks represented a gross interference in China's internal affairs, a serious violation of the one-China principle, and a blatant trample upon the international order after World War II. Insightful people from both China and Japan have stated to the point that Takaichi's words represented the first-ever advocation by a Japanese leader that "a Taiwan contingency is a Japan contingency" after its defeat in 1945, and connected it to the exercise of the right of collective self-defense. She also disclosed for the first time Japan's ambitious attempt of armed intervention over the Taiwan question and attempt of armed threats to China, with extremely malicious intentions, vicious nature, and serious consequences. The Chinese government and people are strongly indignant and firmly opposed to this.

Since modern times, Japanese militarism has been engaged in frenzied foreign aggression and expansion, committing countless heinous crimes against China. Since it forcibly occupied Taiwan through the Treaty of Shimonoseki in 1895, Japan had implemented brutal suppression of the revolt by Taiwan compatriots and large-scale resource plundering during its 50-year colonial rule over Taiwan, which had imposed severe damage to Taiwan's economy, culture, and livelihood, among others. After 14 years of arduous and dauntless battles, the Chinese people achieved a great victory in the Chinese People's War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression in 1945, forcing Japan into signing the Instrument of Surrender, and accepting the Cairo Declaration, the Potsdam Proclamation, and other international legal documents stipulating the return of Taiwan to China. Taiwan was restored to China, and China resumed exercise of sovereignty over Taiwan. This is not only a glorious chapter of the Chinese nation in defending national unity, but also an important part of the international order after World War II.

This year marks the 80th anniversary of the victory of the Chinese People's War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression and the World Anti-Fascist War, as well as the 80th anniversary of Taiwan's restoration. The international community has long reached a universal consensus of adhering to the one-China principle. As a defeated aggressor, Japan should have deeply reflected on its historical responsibilities, abided by the commitments it has made to China and the international community, taken concrete actions to thoroughly reflect on its historical sins, and fully respected China's sovereignty and territorial integrity. However, Takaichi unreasonably ties China's Taiwan region to Japan's "security interests", trying to find excuses for Japan's armed intervention over Taiwan, which undoubtedly exposed its schemes and ambitions of military intervention in the Taiwan Strait. Apart from sending wrong signals to "Taiwan independence" separatist forces, such acts seriously violate the core content of adhering to the one-China principle in the 1972 China-Japan joint statement, as well as the consensus that "the two countries are cooperation partners and not threats to each other" reached in the fourth China-Japan political document signed in 2008, and seriously undermine the political foundation of the China-Japan relations.

The fallacies in Takaichi's remarks on Taiwan are by no means isolated political nonsense. They represent the paranoia and arrogance of the right-wing forces in Japan to break free from the constraints of its pacifist Constitution and seek the status of a "military power". In recent years, Japan has been advancing rapidly on the path of strengthening its military forces. It has continuously undermined the pacifist Constitution, completely abandoned its exclusively defense-oriented policy, and sought to abandon the Three Non-Nuclear Principles. In this context, Takaichi's move of tying "Taiwan emergency" with Japan's right of collective self-defense seeks to find excuses for Japan's military expansion, harboring dangerous seeds of militarism resurgence. From frequently paying tribute to the notorious war-linked Yasukuni Shrine to denying the Nanjing Massacre, and hyping the "China threat" rhetoric, Takaichi's every act replicates Japan's historical evil, with the intention of whitewashing the history of aggression and reincarnating its militarism. In the history of Japanese militarism, the so-called "survival-threatening situation" has been repeatedly used as an excuse to launch aggressive wars, including deliberately initiating the September 18 Incident under the pretext of "exercising the right of self-defense", and provoking its aggression against China. Now, by re-mentioning similar words, does Japan want to repeat the mistakes of its past?

The great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation and the reunification across the Taiwan Strait are an irreversible historical trend. The Chinese government and people are firmly committed to safeguarding national sovereignty and territorial integrity. The Taiwan question is at the very core of China's core interests. More than 1.4 billion Chinese people and the entire Chinese nation will never allow anyone to cross this red line! China once again solemnly warns the Japanese side that if the Japanese side dares to intervene in the Taiwan Strait situation by military means, it would constitute an act of invasion, and will be met with strong fightback from China. Japan must immediately correct its mistake, retract the egregious statement, and cease any erroneous words and actions in the military and security fields, or it will have to bear all the consequences.

The Chinese people defeated the Japanese militarist aggression 80 years ago. Now, the Chinese nation has every firm will, full confidence, and sufficient ability to smash any separatist schemes seeking "Taiwan independence" and the interference by external forces. Those who play with fire will perish by it! Any attempt to obstruct the great cause of China's reunification is just like holding back the tide with a broom, and will be met with resolute countermeasures and eventually lead to self-destruction.