WWII commemorations a powerful rejoinder to rising right

At the UN headquarters in New York, Fu Cong, China's permanent representative to the United Nations, sent letters to UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres on Nov 21 and Dec 1 elaborating on the Chinese government's position.

"Following Takaichi's provocation, Beijing has effectively projected its warning and deterrence to Japan's radical right-wing forces through both diplomatic and military approaches, prompting them to realize that crossing the lines regarding the post-war international order will inevitably come at a cost," Lan said.

New risks

On the last two days of 2025, countries including Russia, Laos, Myanmar and Kazakhstan publicly reaffirmed the one-China principle, making clear that Taiwan is an inalienable part of China's territory.

Despite Japan's colonial rule over Taiwan from 1895 to 1945, which saw atrocities inflicted on the people, Takaichi said in November that "we are not in a position to determine Taiwan's legal status or recognition".

Experts, including Lan, said it was trite for Japan's right-wingers to downplay the recovery of Taiwan to China in 1945 and whitewash Japan's wartime atrocities by citing the so-called Treaty of San Francisco, which was signed in 1951 in the absence of China.

When citing the 1951 treaty, they usually avoid major international legal documents that underpin the postwar international order and clarify Taiwan's recovery, such as the 1945 Potsdam Proclamation and the UN Charter.

"The fixation on the 1951 treaty ignores China's historical role as the largest winning country in the Far East region," Lan said.

He warned that the Takaichi cabinet, with a complex combination of members, has made no major changes in its anti-China policy or in its attempt to whitewash the country's past aggression.