Editor's note: Zheng Jian, a special commentator for CGTN, is the vice director of the Learning and Research Committee, China Council for the Promotion of Peaceful National Reunification. He is also chair professor at the Graduate Institute for Taiwan Studies, Xiamen University.

Since assuming office last year, Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi has been exploiting the pretext that "a Taiwan contingency is a Japan contingency" to manufacture justification and manipulate public opinion for a series of right-wing policies, including Japan's "remilitarization." Since that first controversial comment on November 7, she has never ceased using the Taiwan question as a political tool.

On her recent US trip, no doubt her wishful thinking was to drive a wedge between the US and China. To this end, she inevitably played the "Taiwan card," escalating the rhetoric into "a Taiwan contingency is a Japan contingency, and therefore a US-Japan alliance contingency" – a clear attempt to drag the US into the fray and solidify the alliance.

However, man proposes, but God disposes. The conflict in the Middle East shifted the focus of her visit to the thorny issue of Trump's demand that Japan send troops to the Strait of Hormuz for escort missions.

Facing Trump's "Pearl Harbor moment" style of pressure, a conflicted Takaichi was left humiliated. Japanese media reported that during the joint press conference she checked her watch at least five times, hoping to move to closed-door talks as soon as possible, because Trump is the type of person who you never know what he might suddenly say.

Takaichi postured before the media, pledging increased investment in the US to showcase the "closeness" of the relationship. Simultaneously, she highlighted the "Taiwan card" and hyped the "China threat" to mask the division between the US and Japan regarding the Middle East conflict.

Yet, even this did not go her way entirely. The rhetoric regarding Taiwan did not exceed the standard framework used by the US and its allies in recent years; it was by no means an enhanced version.

Furthermore, on the same day as Takaichi's arrival in the US, the Office of the Director of National Intelligence of the US released a report stating bluntly that her Taiwan policy had undergone a "significant shift."

Viewed together, it is clear Trump did not give Takaichi much "face" – he did not directly endorse her "Taiwan contingency is a Japan contingency" posture. This is because Trump needs China's cooperation in many areas.

However, this does not mean the Trump administration has made a major policy adjustment on Taiwan. In reality, the so-called maintenance of peace and stability in the Taiwan Strait is a rhetorical tool used by the US to rally a strategic encirclement alliance against China. It is designed to shift the responsibility for playing the "Taiwan card" and stirring up tensions in the Chinese mainland. Japan and other allies follow suit to varying degrees, each according to their own needs.

Historically, Taiwan belongs to China but the Chinese mainland’s policy of peaceful reunification is attacked by US and Japanese rhetoric as "bluffing" or "united front deception." Actions against "Taiwan independence" and foreign interference are smeared as "changing the status quo" or "aggression and expansion."

Thus, a bizarre scene unfolded during the Trump-Takaichi meeting in Washington on March 19. The United States – which lawlessly launched "Pearl Harbor-style" attacks on Venezuela and Iran and militarily coerced numerous other nations – joined hands with a Japan that is trying to shed the constraints of the post-World War II system and seek "remilitarization," to jointly declare their intent to "maintain peace and stability in the Taiwan Strait."

In other words, China has been cast as the aggressor, while the US and Japan act as if they are executing justice. You cannot help but ask, is their motive to maintain peace, or to manufacture conflict for profit? Do they wish for a calm Taiwan Strait, or are they stirring up waves?

The Takaichi government should have learned from history and exercised caution regarding the core interests of other nations. Instead, Takaichi used her US visit to once again send a wrong signal on the Taiwan question, violating the one-China principle and the spirit of the four political documents between China and Japan.

As a driver of global instability, the United States has left countless fires of war in its wake. A country habitually addicted to provoking foreign wars has absolutely no standing on the Taiwan question.

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