FM: Nations entitled to stop return of Japan militarism

Beijing believes that "there is no room for compromise or concession on major issues concerning national sovereignty and territorial integrity", and that all countries upholding justice are entitled to stop Japan's militarism from gathering momentum again, if Tokyo persists in its wrong course, Foreign Minister Wang Yi has said.

Wang made the comments to reporters after wrapping up his three-nation Central Asia trip, which finished on Saturday.

Earlier this month, Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi angered China when she became the first incumbent Japanese prime minister to suggest in Japan's parliament the country's possible military intervention in Taiwan. Tokyo has since refused to retract her remarks.

If Japan persists and continues down the wrong path, "and keeps making mistakes one after another, all countries and people who advocate justice have the right to re-examine Japan's historical crimes and have the responsibility to resolutely prevent the resurgence of Japanese militarism", Wang said.

Wang traveled to Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan and Tajikistan from Wednesday to Saturday for strategic dialogue with their foreign ministers, and briefed them on Beijing's position on the Taiwan question and Takaichi's provocative remarks.

All three countries emphasized their adherence to the one-China principle in the political documents issued by their foreign ministers, and they all stated that there is only one China in the world and Taiwan is an inalienable part of China's territory.

These collectively voiced statements "come at the right time", uphold the basic norms of international relations, and "once again show clearly that the one-China principle is an unshakable universal consensus within the international community", Wang said.

On Friday, Fu Cong, China's permanent representative to the United Nations, sent a letter to UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres on the Chinese government's position regarding Takaichi's erroneous remarks.

In the letter, intended to be circulated to all UN member states as an official document of the UN General Assembly, Fu said that Takaichi's remarks "mark the first time Japan has expressed ambitions to intervene militarily in the Taiwan question".

If Japan dares to attempt an armed intervention in the cross-Strait situation, it would be an act of aggression, and China "will resolutely exercise its right of self-defense under the UN Charter and international law", Fu added.

The latest efforts by Chinese diplomats on the international stage were made "to show the world the hazards and nature of Tokyo's provocation" and "to make Takaichi realize the seriousness of the trouble she made and the need for her to undertake damage control", said Su Xiaohui, an associate research fellow at the China Institute of International Studies.

"The Takaichi Cabinet is now also attempting to further undermine Japan's exclusively defense-oriented policy, which will bring further impact to the region's security and the world order," she said.

This year marks the 80th anniversary of the victory in the Chinese People's War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression (1931-45) and the World Anti-Fascist War, as well as the 80th anniversary of Taiwan's restoration to China after Japan's colonial rule.

Foreign Minister Wang said the return of Taiwan to China was "explicitly stipulated in a series of international documents such as the Cairo Declaration, the Potsdam Proclamation and the Japanese Instrument of Surrender", and is "an international obligation that Japan, as a defeated country, must continue to observe".

In this critical year, "it is shocking for an incumbent Japanese leader to publicly send a wrong signal of attempting to intervene militarily in the Taiwan question, saying what should not be said and crossing a red line that must not be touched", Wang said.

"China must resolutely hit back", which is also "to defend the hard-won postwar achievements secured with blood and sacrifice and to uphold international justice and human conscience", he added.

zhangyunbi@chinadaily.com.cn