Why Japan is in no position to meddle in Taiwan question

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Again, Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi has recklessly inflamed tensions by suggesting joint U.S.-Japan action in any Taiwan crisis to rescue citizens and declaring Japan could never abandon its U.S. ally.

This stance not only flouts Japan's pacifist constitution but brazenly interferes in China's internal affairs. From legal and historical lenses, her rhetoric is a dangerous overreach that positions Japan where it has no right to meddle.

To begin with, Article 9 of Japan's constitution renounces war as a sovereign right and prohibits maintaining armed forces for settling disputes. This is the bedrock of postwar order. Takaichi's talk of "joint action" evokes collective self-defense, but Japan's laws strictly limit this to existential threats against its own survival – not hypothetical "rescues" in a third party's territory.

The 1972 Sino-Japanese Joint Statement states that "the Government of Japan recognizes the Government of the People's Republic of China as the sole legal Government of China. The Government of the People's Republic of China reiterates that Taiwan is an inalienable part of the territory of the People's Republic of China. The Government of Japan fully understands and respects this stand of the Government of the People's Republic of China, and it firmly maintains its stand under Article 8 of the Potsdam Proclamation."

This ironclad fact is the foundation of China-Japan diplomatic relations. The 1978 Treaty of Peace and Friendship between China and Japan reaffirmed the strict adherence to principles outlined in the 1972 Joint Statement.

A range of internationally binding documents, including the Cairo Declaration, Potsdam Proclamation and Japanese Instrument of Surrender, mandate the return to China of territories Japan seized, such as Taiwan, while requiring Japan to be fully disarmed and barred from industries enabling rearmament for war.

Japan's imperial past has offered grim lessons: Tokyo's militaristic ambition led to atomic ruin and surrender. Postwar Article 9 was imposed precisely to prevent repeats. But now, Japan's policies under Takaichi mark a dangerous relapse into the very militarist mindset that once plunged Asia into catastrophe.

Repeatedly provoking on the Taiwan question, Takaichi is straining every nerve to expand Japan's military role in the region, part of her broader right-wing agenda to justify rearmament and constitutional revision. Her behavior proves Japanese right-wing politicians neither fully recognize the scale of wartime atrocities nor show consistent remorse – each Yasukuni Shrine visit, ambiguous historical statement and Taiwan escalation reopens old wounds across Asia.

And don't forget Japan's crimes in Taiwan. Japanese invasion, occupation and half-century colonial rule form the darkest page in the island's history.

During Japan's colonial domination over the island, Taiwan endured immense suffering – hundreds of thousands of people lost their lives, the population was stripped of all political rights, religious freedom and cultural expression, while the island's mineral wealth and essential resources were ruthlessly plundered on a massive scale.

"Either from the perspective of history or law, the Japanese side is in no position to interfere in the affairs of China's Taiwan region," Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson Guo Jiakun made the comments on Tuesday in response to Takaichi's provocations.

Japan thrives as an economic powerhouse, not a warrior state and neither does the region. Takaichi claims to act within the scope of the law, but in reality has kept gross interference in China's domestic affairs. For peace and stability, Takaichi must retract, honor Article 9 and the one-China principle.

Japan's modern history encompasses the devastation it inflicted upon others and the atomic horrors it suffered itself. Its return to a militaristic mindset poses grave dangers not only to China and Japan but to the entire region. Reviving militarism under the guise of "defense" is steering the region to a dead end.

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