[Compiler/Observer Network Tong Li] Japanese Deputy Prime Minister Taro Aso, who once advocated Japan's study of the Nazis and had such astonishing remarks as "it is okay to drink nuclear wastewater," yesterday (5th) again talked nonsense about the Taiwan issue. He threatened that if the Chinese mainland "invade" the Taiwan region, Japan may exercise its right of collective self-defense and work with the United States to "defend" Taiwan. The Taiwan Affairs Office of the State Council responded on the evening of 6 June: Some Japanese politicians have successively made erroneous remarks on Taiwan-related issues, blatantly violating the political commitments made by the Japanese side to the Chinese side on the Taiwan issue, violating the spirit of the four Sino-Japanese political documents, and violating international law and norms governing international relations. We strongly oppose that.
The US media turned around and exposed Aso's international image: the 80-year-old Japanese politician often made controversial remarks.
According to a comprehensive report by the Nikkei Asian Review, Japan's Kyodo News Agency and Bloomberg news agency on July 6, on the 5th, Aso Taro declared at a political fundraising event in Tokyo that "the situation in Taiwan is becoming extremely tense" and that the mainland's "invasion" of Taiwan may be seen as an existential threat, enabling Japan to exercise its right of collective self-defense: "If a major event occurs in [Taiwan], if it involves a situation that endangers survival, it is not surprising at all." If this is the case, Japan and the United States must work together to 'defend' Taiwan. ”
Taro Aso is currently Japan's Minister of Finance and is one of four cabinet members of the Japan National Security Council.
Screenshot of the report
In addition, due to the restrictions on the use of armed forces in the Japanese Constitution, the Japanese government is only authorized to mobilize the Self-Defense Forces for national defense purposes. Previously, the only scenario in which the SDF could use force was an "armed attack situation," such as an organized, premeditated attack on Japan's land, sea, or airspace. During Abe's tenure in 2015, Japan enacted a series of security laws that expanded the conditions for the deployment of the Self-Defense Forces. One of the new concepts is related to the "situation that threatens the survival of Japan."
However, on the 6th, Aso Taro told reporters that the ideal result is that the parties concerned will reach a peaceful solution through direct negotiations. "We have to consider situations like the inability to pass through the Taiwan Strait. It is difficult to say exactly what this existential threat is. ”
Bloomberg said Taro Aso's series of claims was one of the highest level of Japanese comments on this sensitive topic.
The US media also added Aso's background in the report: The 80-year-old Aso Taro was once The prime minister of Japan, and his remarks have been controversial, including in 2013, when he suggested that Japan learn from the Nazis. He later retracted the remarks. In the early days of the COVID-19 outbreak, he explained Japan's relatively low official COVID-19 death rate as the different cultural levels of Japanese people.
Japanese government spokesman and Chief Cabinet Secretary Katsunobu Kato said at a news conference that he did not know the details of Aso's remarks about "defending" Taiwan and declined to comment on it.
The Nikkei Asia Review noted China's recent remarks on the Taiwan issue: Resolving the Taiwan issue and realizing the complete reunification of the motherland is an unswerving historical task of the Communist Party of China and the common aspiration of all the sons and daughters of China.
On July 6, Zhu Fenglian, a spokeswoman for the Taiwan Affairs Office of the State Council, responded to the recent wrong words and deeds of Taro Aso and many other Japanese government officials in their dealings with Taiwan, saying that there is only one China in the world, and Taiwan is a part of China. Some Japanese politicians have successively made erroneous remarks on Taiwan-related issues, blatantly violating the political commitments made by the Japanese side to the Chinese side on the Taiwan issue, violating the spirit of the four Sino-Japanese political documents, and violating international law and norms governing international relations. We strongly oppose that.
The spokesman urged the Japanese side to profoundly reflect on history, immediately correct its mistakes, scrupulously abide by the one-China principle and the spirit of the four Sino-Japanese political documents with practical actions, be cautious in its words and deeds on the Taiwan issue, and stop all erroneous words and deeds related to Taiwan. The DPP authorities' vain attempt to collude with Japan and some other foreign forces to carry out "independence" provocations is a misjudgment of the situation and a miscalculation.
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