By Fan Yongqiang
Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi has openly made erroneous remarks on Taiwan, grossly interfering in China's internal affairs. What's worse, she has refused to retract her statements, openly challenging the post‑war international order, seriously violating international law and the basic norms governing international relations, and posing a grave threat to security in the Asia‑Pacific and to world peace and stability. Her words and actions reveal a dangerous tendency toward military expansion.
The current Constitution of Japan came into effect in 1947. It is explicitly stipulated in Article 9 that "Aspiring sincerely to an international peace based on justice and order, the Japanese people forever renounce war as a sovereign right of the nation and the threat or use of force as means of settling international disputes. In order to accomplish the aim of the preceding paragraph, land, sea, and air forces, as well as other war potential, will never be maintained. The right of belligerency of the state will not be recognized."
For this reason, the constitution is widely known as the pacifist Constitution. It establishes the "exclusively defense-oriented" principle after WWII and serves as a symbol of Japan's public commitment to a path of peaceful development. Sanae Takaichi's erroneous remarks on China's Taiwan region severely violate the principle of "prohibition of the use of force" and constitute a complete betrayal of the solemn commitment to "renounce war." The pacifist Constitution, which should have served as a testament to Japan's complete break from its imperialist past, is now being undermined by right-wing politicians.
Takaichi's erroneous remarks on Taiwan blatantly disregard the most sensitive historical context of China-Japan relations and flagrantly trample on the historical and legal facts established by the Cairo Declaration, the Potsdam Proclamation, and UN General Assembly Resolution 2758, which affirm that Taiwan is part of China. She has also completely disregarded the "Enemy States Clauses" in the UN Charter. Taiwan has been an integral part of China's territory since ancient times. The Taiwan question is purely China's internal affair, which brooks no external interference. If Japan dares to put Sanae Takaichi's provocative remarks into action, it will inevitably trigger the authorization contained in the "Enemy States Clauses" and will certainly face a resolute counterstrike.
Aggression is universally recognized as an international crime and represents the most extreme form of unlawful use of force. The UN General Assembly's Resolution on the Definition of Aggression clearly stipulates that aggression is the use of Armed force by a State against the sovereignty, territorial integrity or political independence of another State. Typical aggressive acts include the invasion or attack by the armed force of a State of the territory of another State, the sending by or on behalf of a State of armed bands, groups, irregulars or mercenaries, which carried out acts of armed force against another State, and so on. According to Article 51 of the UN Charter, when any UN Member State suffers an armed attack, it has the inherent right of self‑defense until the Security Council has taken the measures necessary to maintain international peace and security. Should Japan dare to intervene militarily in the cross-Straits situation, such action would constitute aggression and China would deliver a head-on counterblow. China would resolutely exercise the right of self-defense granted by the UN Charter and international law, and firmly safeguard our national sovereignty and territorial integrity.
The lessons of history must be heeded. From the seizure of China's Taiwan and the Penghu Islands in the Sino-Japanese War of 1894–1895, to the brutal aggression Japan unleashed against China and many Southeast Asian countries during WWII, the grave crimes committed by Japanese militarism have yet to be thoroughly settled. Today, figures like Sanae Takaichi are recklessly playing with fire on the Taiwan Question. This is not only a blatant provocation against the unshakable will of 1.4 billion Chinese people to safeguard national reunification, but also a serious violation of the fundamental bottom line of global peace. If Japan insists on going its own way and repeats the mistakes of history, it will inevitably face complete reckoning. What awaits it will be a defeat even more thorough than that of eighty years ago.