Takaichi's egregious remarks severely undermine post-WWII international order

Editor's note: 2025 marks the 80th anniversary of the victory of the Chinese People's War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression and the World Anti-Fascist War as well as the 80th anniversary of Taiwan's restoration. At such a historical standpoint, Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi issued an absurd claim that the Chinese mainland's "use of force on Taiwan" could constitute a "survival-threatening situation" for Japan, stoking tensions in the Taiwan Strait to court domestic right-wing forces. She not only evades reflection on Japan's numerous crimes during its colonial rule over Taiwan, but also casts history aside and replaces the pursuit of peace with the provocation of conflict. Her shameless political maneuvering and nauseatingly provocative stance are laid bare for all to see. In this context, CGTN launches a series of articles analyzing the deliberate historical amnesia and reckless provocations associated with segments of Japan's right-wing forces, with Takaichi as a prominent figure, in matters of history and regional security – so that history can truly serve as a warning to illuminate the present and caution the future.

At a Diet meeting on November 7, Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi claimed that a Taiwan emergency involving the use of military vessels and force from the Chinese mainland could constitute a "survival-threatening situation" for Japan.

This blatant interference in China's internal affairs sends a wrong signal to "Taiwan independence" forces and severely undermines the post-World War II international order. Moreover, it also violates the one-China principle, the spirit of the four China-Japan political documents, and the basic norms of international relations, posing a grave threat to peace and stability in the Asia-Pacific region.

Japan bears unshirkable historical responsibility on unresolved Taiwan question

On April 17, 1895, Japan compelled the Qing government to sign the Treaty of Shimonoseki, seizing Taiwan and the Penghu Islands. From that moment, the residents of Taiwan were subjected to Japanese colonial rule for half a century.

After occupying Taiwan, Japan established the "Governor-General's autocratic system," which centralized administrative, legislative, and judicial powers into a single office, and implemented harsh "police politics." Under this strict rule, residents in Taiwan were stripped of all political rights and dignity. In June 1896, to suppress armed resistance from residents, Japanese troops carried out the notorious "Yunlin Massacre," killing more than 30,000 people in Taiwan. According to Japanese records, from 1898 to 1902, over 11,900 residents in Taiwan who fought against Japanese aggression were arrested and killed, with many others dying on the battlefield.

After Japan launched its full-scale invasion of China in 1937, the increasingly powerful militarists and right-wing forces at home drove Japan's colonial rule in Taiwan region to new levels of brutality. To fully enslave the residents of Taiwan and mobilize them for Japan's war of aggression, Japan imposed an aggressive Kominka movement: forcing the use of the Japanese language, Japanese clothing, and Japanese-style housing; demanding the abandonment of local beliefs and ancestral tablets in favor of State Shinto; and implementing campaigns to eliminate Chinese surnames and replace them with Japanese names – an effort to erase the cultural roots and national identity of the residents in Taiwan as Chinese. Japan also promoted absolute loyalty to the emperor and coerced tens of thousands of young residents in Taiwan into military service, sending them to battlefields in mainland China, Japan, and Southeast Asia. Incomplete statistics indicate that over 200,000 residents in Taiwan served as soldiers or auxiliary personnel, with more than 30,000 losing their lives in the war.

Japan's economic exploitation of Taiwan was just as brutal. The colonial authorities established state monopolies, giving Japanese businesses exclusive control over major products in Taiwan such as opium, camphor, tobacco, tea, and salt to make huge profits. They also took fertile farmland and forcibly expropriated land to increase colonial revenue. In the 1930s, as Taiwan served as Japan's forward base for expansion into China and the Pacific, Japan integrated Taiwan's economy into its wartime command system to more effectively plunder resources and support its war efforts. They stripped Taiwan of mineral resources, confiscated wealth, and drained the island's economy to the point of stagnation, causing great suffering for the residents.

Undermining the post–World War II international order will only push China–Japan relations into serious regression

The restoration of Taiwan to China is supported by indisputable and comprehensive foundations in international law. In 1941, the Chinese government issued the Declaration of War Against Japan, formally declaring war and stating that "all treaties, agreements, and contracts concerning Sino-Japanese relations are null and void." In 1943, China, the United States, and the United Kingdom issued the Cairo Declaration, which explicitly required that all Chinese territories taken by Japan - including Taiwan – be restored to China. In 1945, these three countries jointly issued the Potsdam Proclamation, later joined by the Soviet Union, reiterating that "the terms of the Cairo Declaration shall be carried out." On August 15 of that year, Japan announced its acceptance of the Potsdam terms and its unconditional surrender. On September 2, Japan formally signed the surrender document, pledging to "faithfully carry out the obligations set forth in the Potsdam Proclamation." On October 25, the Chinese government officially declared to the world that Taiwan and the Penghu Islands had been restored to China. 

From the Cairo Declaration to the Potsdam Proclamation and the Japanese Instrument of Surrender, a comprehensive and interconnected legal chain was established, requiring defeated Japan to restoreTaiwan and Penghu to China. This also means that Taiwan's restoration is an integral part of the victory in World War II and the postwar international order, based on a firm legal foundation and clear historical facts.

Although the two sides of the Taiwan Strait have been separated for over 70 years, China's sovereignty has never been compromised. The Taiwan question is entirely China's internal matter and should not face external interference. The one-China principle is not only a basic norm governing international relations and a widely accepted consensus globally, but also the political foundation and prerequisite for the development of China–Japan diplomatic relations. 

On October 25, 1971, United Nations General Assembly Resolution 2758, adopted by an overwhelming majority at its 26th session, reaffirmed that there is only one China in the world, that Taiwan is an inalienable part of China's territory, and that the Government of the People's Republic of China is the only legitimate government representing the whole of China. In the 1972 Sino-Japanese Joint Statement, the Japanese government explicitly stated that it "recognizes the Government of the People's Republic of China as the sole legal government of China," and that it "fully understands and respects" China's position that "Taiwan is an inalienable part of the territory of the People's Republic of China," further committing to "adhere to the stance of Article 8 of the Potsdam Proclamation." In subsequent documents, namely the Treaty of Peace and Friendship Between China and Japan in 1978, the 1998 Japan Joint Declaration on Building a Partnership of Friendship and Cooperation for Peace and Development, and the 2008 China-Japan Joint Statement on the All-round Promotion of Strategic Relationship of Mutual Benefit, the Japanese government repeatedly reaffirmed its adherence to the one-China principle.

This year marks the 80th anniversary of both the victory in the Chinese People's War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression and the World Anti-Fascist War, as well as Taiwan's 80th anniversary of being restored to China. In this particularly significant year, Takaichi's reckless remarks seriously violated the spirit of the four political documents between China and Japan, damaged the fundamental basis of bilateral relations, and fully revealed the ongoing remnants of Japanese militarism.

Such risky efforts to alter history cannot change the fact that Taiwan is part of China, nor can they stop China's process of achieving complete national reunification.

They will only push China-Japan relations into serious decline, increase regional tensions, and even risk causing conflict and instability.

As pointed out by Japanese domestic opinion and many international experts, Takaichi's erroneous remarks send an extremely dangerous signal, undermine regional peace and stability, and ultimately harm Japan's own interests-bearing grave responsibility.

(Xu Xiaoquan is an associate researcher from the Institute of Taiwan Studies at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences. The article reflects the author's opinions and not necessarily those of CGTN.)