Japan's gamble on US risk to regional stability: China Daily editorial

Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida's latest Taiwan-related remarks demonstrate that Tokyo is more than happy to continue to serve as a pawn of the United States so that it can garner some strategic gains for itself.

To show Tokyo's allegiance to Washington and endorse the US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's visit to the Chinese island, Kishida pointed an accusing finger at China during Friday's breakfast meeting with US politicians, calling China's missile drills a "serious problem that impacts our national security and the safety of our citizens" and said that Japan and the US will "jointly work to ensure peace and stability" in the Taiwan Straits.

The G7, of which Japan is a member, issued a similarly worded statement on Wednesday, accusing Beijing of escalating tensions across the Taiwan Straits and urging it to stop the People's Liberation Army's military exercises being staged around Taiwan. This was followed by a similar statement from Australia, the US and Japan on Friday.

Beijing has a legitimate right to respond to Pelosi's visit to the island as it marked a serious violation of the one-China principle. The rhetoric of Tokyo is clear proof that it is deliberately trying to mislead public opinion by confusing right and wrong and in doing so encouraging the secessionists on the island to continue their provocative antics.

As an Asia-Pacific country, Japan is well aware that the US' collusion with the separatist forces in Taiwan poses the real threat to regional security and stability. But some Japanese politicians have long sought to leverage the Japan-US alliance to rebuild the country into a military and political power, and they are willing to invite the wolf into the fold to do so.

Acting as the "right-hand man" of the US, Japan has constantly upped the ante in provoking China over its core interests, including Taiwan, Xinjiang and Hong Kong. Its high-profile meddling in the Taiwan question is just Tokyo's latest display of sycophancy.

Given the irresponsible and provocative nature of the two statements, Beijing canceled a meeting between State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi and his Japanese counterpart that was due to take place on Thursday. Although the two foreign ministers talked by video link in May, this would have been the first face-to-face interaction between the two sides since 2020.

As China's Foreign Ministry said, if Tokyo was truly concerned about regional peace and stability, why didn't it try to dissuade Pelosi from making her trip to Taiwan. It knew her visit would be a serious violation of the one-China principle, as it would upgrade substantive exchanges between the US and Taiwan, and Beijing would be left with no choice but to respond in accordance with that.

If Tokyo truly wants to maintain peace and stability in the region, it should urge Washington to honor the US commitment to respect China's sovereignty and territorial integrity, stop interfering in China's internal affairs, and stop conniving with "Taiwan independence" forces.