Japan bears blame for worsening China ties

China's Foreign Ministry has confirmed that Premier Li Qiang will not meet one-on-one with Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi on the sidelines of the upcoming G20 Summit, as the political atmosphere between the two countries has suffered a great impact from Tokyo's persistence in not withdrawing Takaichi's provocative comments regarding Taiwan.

"A meeting with the Japanese leader is not on Premier Li Qiang's agenda," Chinese Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Mao Ning said on Monday in Beijing at a daily news briefing.

Takaichi infuriated China after she publicly suggested on Nov 7 Japan's possible military intervention in Taiwan Strait affairs, making her the first incumbent Japanese prime minister to say so in the country's parliament.

Media outlets in Japan said that Japan-China ties are worsening rapidly and that great attention is being paid to whether there will be a Li-Takaichi meeting at the G20 Summit in South Africa to help break the impasse.

"Li's not meeting with Takaichi is a solemn, righteous response to her hazardous remarks that have crossed the line about the Taiwan question and have damaged the political foundation of China-Japan ties," said Wang Peng, a research fellow at Huazhong University of Science and Technology's Institute of State Governance.

While Takaichi's remarks have raised criticism in Japan, some Japanese politicians claimed that China has "overreacted" to her comments.

Japanese Chief Cabinet Secretary Minoru Kihara defended Takaichi's remarks by saying that the Japanese government's position on the Taiwan question "remains unchanged" and aligns with the China-Japan Joint Statement in 1972, one of the four landmark political documents that have underpinned the bilateral ties.

In response, Mao, the Foreign Ministry spokeswoman, said on Monday that Takaichi's remarks "seriously contradict the spirit of the four political documents between China and Japan".

The clear provisions on the Taiwan question in the four political documents "constitute solemn commitments made by the Japanese government, which has a legal effect under international law and leaves no room for ambiguity or misinterpretation", Mao said.

"Whichever political party or person is in power in Japan, they must always abide by the commitment of the Japanese government on the Taiwan question," she said.

She once again urged Japan to approach history and relations with China in a responsible way, stop crossing the line and playing with fire, retract the wrongful remarks and act seriously to honor Japan's commitments to China.

Su Xiaohui, an associate research fellow at the China Institute of International Studies, said the strong protests made so far and countermeasures taken by Beijing should prompt Takaichi "to start reconsidering what she has done".

The Japanese officials' responses so far show that Tokyo "does feel the pressure from Beijing although it has not made a fundamental change in its stance", Su said.

Also on Monday, Masaaki Kanai, head of the Japanese Foreign Ministry's Asian and Oceanian Affairs Bureau, arrived in Beijing for a visit.

Unnamed Japanese government sources told Japanese media, including Kyodo News Agency, that Kanai planned to meet with the Chinese side on Tuesday.

Lyu Chao, dean of Liaoning University's Institute of America and East Asia Studies, noted that Kanai is "an influential China hand at the Japanese Foreign Ministry".

"Tokyo has downplayed the serious impact of Takaichi's remarks, and there is no way Japan can gloss it over at the Tuesday talks," Lyu said.

As the announcement of the results of a China-Japan joint opinion poll and the Beijing-Tokyo Forum have been postponed at the request of China, Mao, the Foreign Ministry spokeswoman, said that Takaichi's remarks have seriously eroded the political foundation of China-Japan relations and poisoned public opinion.

"The environment and conditions for the joint opinion poll have changed enormously, so how much the results reflect reality and the timing of the announcement need to be reconsidered," Mao said.

The responsibility lies completely in the wrong remarks of the Japanese leader, she added.

zhangyunbi@chinadaily.com.cn