By Xu Yizhen
Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi recently made provocative remarks concerning the Taiwan question, implying the possible military intervention in the cross-Straits situation. Subsequently, the Japanese government has taken a series of retrogressive steps, including raising the country's defense expenditure to 2% of its GDP ahead of schedule in fiscal year 2025, seeking to deploy offensive weapons on its southwest islands near the Taiwan region, and pushing forward the export of lethal weapons. All these moves run counter to Japan's pacifist constitution. Such dangerous actions not only gravely undermine China-Japan relations and disrupt the post-war international order but also pose a serious threat to peace and stability in Asia and beyond. Japan's attempt to turn back the wheel of history in the security field will ultimately harm its own interests.
On China-Japan relations, turning back the wheel of history is unacceptable. Japan explicitly acknowledged the one-China principle when normalizing diplomatic relations with China in 1972. Since then, the four political documents between China and Japan have provided clear provisions on the Taiwan question, constituting solemn political commitments made by the Japanese government. In late October, Sanae Takaichi herself stated that Japan would adhere to the position on the Taiwan question outlined in the 1972 Japan-China Joint Statement. Yet shortly afterward, despite her earlier remarks still echoing, she reversed position and put forward the absurd claim that a "Taiwan contingency" could constitute a "survival-threatening situation." The right-wing forces in Japan, represented by Sanae Takaichi, attempt to contain China with Taiwan. Such moves blatantly run counter to the spirit of the four political documents between China and Japan, gravely undermine the political foundation of bilateral relations, and have aroused strong indignation among the Chinese people. China cherishes peace and honors its commitments, but on issues of principle concerning national sovereignty and territorial integrity, anyone attempting to challenge the bottom line of the Chinese people will be met with firm and resolute countermeasures.
A series of instruments with legal effect under international law, including the Cairo Declaration, the Potsdam Proclamation, and the Japanese Instrument of Surrender, all contain explicit legal provisions prohibiting Japan from rearmament. Japan itself pledged in the pacifist constitution that "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." These provisions constitute binding international legal obligations that Japan must faithfully observe. Taiwan's restoration to China is an outcome of the WWII victory and part and parcel of the postwar international order. However, to this day, Sanae Takaichi chooses to turn a blind eye to the series of instruments with legal effect under international law, while deliberately highlighting the illegal and invalid Treaty of San Francisco, even attempting to stir up the so-called "undetermined status of Taiwan" argument. Such a position is a grave error compounded by further mistake. Japan's disregard for the authority of the UN and its open challenge to the post-war international order and fundamental norms of international law constitute a dangerous retrogressive trend that will certainly be met with strong opposition and firm counteraction from the international community.
On the path of peaceful development, turning back the wheel of history is unacceptable. Japan's post-war economic recovery and prosperity were made possible precisely because the country chose the path of peaceful development and made a solemn pledge to the world that it would "never wage war again." This commitment is the cornerstone of Japan's return to the international community and the fundamental guarantee of its standing in the world. However, the right-wing forces in Japan are attempting to undermine this cornerstone. Since the end of WWII, right-wing forces in Japan have never abandoned the pursuit of turning Japan into a major political and military power. They have gone to great lengths to deny and even glorify the history of aggression, while intentionally hollowing out the pacifist constitution and attempting to breach the "exclusively defense-oriented" principle, in an effort to replay the old script of militarism and accelerate Japan's transformation toward a nation "capable of waging war." The peoples of Asian countries, including China, and indeed of the world, will never forget the grave calamities caused by Japanese militarism, and will never allow the specter of militarism to once again bring disaster upon humanity.
The alarm that tragedy must not be repeated has already been sounded. If Japan insists on reversing the course of history, reneging on its commitment to peaceful development, and embarking once again on the dangerous path of militarist expansion, thereby undermining the post-war international order, it will ultimately lead only to its self-destruction.