Photo/Illutration Chief Cabinet Secretary Minoru Kihara speaks at a news conference on Nov. 11. (Takeshi Iwashita)

The government is trying to cool diplomatic tensions after China protested Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi’s suggestion that Japan might use force along with the United States in the event of a Taiwan contingency.

Japan has conveyed the intent behind Takaichi’s remarks as well as Tokyo’s official position, Chief Cabinet Secretary Minoru Kihara said Nov. 11.

“Peace and stability in the Taiwan Strait are crucial for Japan’s security and for the stability of the international community,” Kihara told a news conference. “It has been the government’s consistent position to hope for a peaceful resolution through dialogue.”

Kihara also referred to the Japan-China summit on Oct. 31, where Takaichi and Chinese President Xi Jinping reaffirmed their commitment to advancing a “mutually beneficial relationship based on common strategic interests.”

“We intend to further strengthen communications across a wide range of fields and deepen mutual understanding and cooperation,” he said.

Speaking about a Taiwan contingency during a Lower House Budget Committee session on Nov. 7, Takaichi said, “If it were to involve the use of warships and the exercise of force, then by any measure, it could constitute a situation threatening Japan’s survival.”

A survival-threatening situation refers to an attack on a country with close ties to Japan that threatens Japan’s survival and poses a clear danger to the lives of its people, even if Japan itself is not directly attacked.

It is a legal prerequisite for Japan exercising its right to collective self-defense.

Takaichi’s remarks indicated that, depending on circumstances, the Self-Defense Forces might engage in the use of force alongside the U.S. military during a Taiwan contingency, marking a departure from the official views of previous Cabinets.

At a news conference on Nov. 10, Lin Jian, spokesperson for China’s Foreign Ministry, expressed “strong dissatisfaction and firm opposition,” saying Takaichi’s statements “seriously contradict the Japanese government’s past political commitments.”

Lin added that China had lodged a “stern representation and strong protest” with Japan.

Takaichi told the Lower House Budget Committee on Nov. 10 that she made her remarks based on a “worst-case scenario.”

She added that she has no intention of retracting her statements, saying they do not represent any change in the government’s longstanding position.

At the same time, Takaichi said, “Going forward, I will refrain from making definitive statements here about specific hypothetical cases (regarding a survival-threatening situation).”

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