Photo/Illutration Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi, second from left, meets with Chinese President Xi Jinping, third from right, in Gyeonju, South Korea. (Pool)

In late October, Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi shook hands with Chinese President Xi Jinping and both agreed to construct a constructive and stable bilateral relationship.

So who could have imagined that those ties would become so acrimonious in such a short time?

Now there is a need to stop the situation from worsening further and end the unproductive confrontation.

The situation was triggered by Takaichi’s Diet response on Nov. 7 when she was asked about how Japan would respond to Chinese military action against Taiwan.

She said, “I believe any action involving the use of force, such as China deploying naval ships, can only be described as a survival-threatening situation.”

Her comment went beyond the Diet responses and official positions of past Cabinets, including the one led by then Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, who passed national security legislation.

And by touching upon the geographical name of Taiwan, Takaichi needlessly heightened tensions.

The rigid position of the Chinese government is that Taiwan is part of its territory. And the Japanese government has pledged to respect that stance.

While Japan cannot simply stand by and do nothing in the event China uses military force against Taiwan, the government has avoided referring to such a possibility.

Instead, it has only expressed the importance of maintaining peace and stability in the Taiwan Strait.

The Chinese Foreign Ministry described Takaichi’s response as an outrageous interference in internal affairs and on Nov. 13 summoned Japanese Ambassador Kenji Kanasugi to the ministry to demand a retraction.

China tends to make excessive responses regarding Taiwan, in part, because it views Taiwanese President Lai Ching-te as a proponent of Taiwanese independence.

As a result, Beijing is always on the alert for any comments or deeds by Japan or the United States that appear to support such a stance.

Even so, there are many doubts about the Chinese position.

Its protests over the Takaichi comment are exceedingly persistent and Japan is well aware of the views of the Chinese government.

And yet, the relevant Chinese government organs have called for restraint about its citizens visiting Japan and to carefully consider sending students there.

It is difficult to understand why it must spread the confrontation between governments to the private sector.

We also cannot overlook the post made to X (formerly Twitter) on Nov. 8 by Xue Jian, the consul general in Osaka, which said: “The filthy head that recklessly sticks itself in must be cut off without a moment’s hesitation.”

While the post has since been deleted, he did not apologize.

A spokesperson for the Chinese Foreign Ministry defended the post as a response to Japan’s dangerous speech.

It is a matter of course that the Foreign Ministry called Chinese Ambassador Wu Jianghao to the ministry to lodge a protest.

The work of diplomats is not to make matters worse.

While there are some calling for expelling Xue from Japan because of past inappropriate comments, that would only escalate the situation.

It would be wiser to continue questioning the Chinese government’s stance and judgment in posting an individual such as Xue for such a long period in Japan.

--The Asahi Shimbun, Nov. 18

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