Japan must stop playing with fire over the Taiwan question

By Yan Zeyang

The Japanese politician of the Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) Keiji Furuya's visit to China's Taiwan region, from August 22 to 24, seriously violates the one-China principle and the spirit of the four political documents between China and Japan, and damages the China-Japan relations.

The Taiwan question concerns the political foundation of China-Japan relations and the basic trust between the two countries. However, recently, some Japanese right-wing political forces have repeatedly provoked China over the Taiwan question, which has had a negative impact on regional security and development.

In 1972, China and Japan normalized their diplomatic relations, and the handling of the Taiwan question was undoubtedly the basis for the normalization of the bilateral relations. The Cairo Declaration and the Potsdam Proclamation, which laid the legal foundation for the post-war international order, clearly stipulated that the Chinese territory stolen by Japan, including Taiwan and the Penghu Islands, should be returned to China.

The Sino-Japanese Joint Statement signed by the two sides in 1972 states that the Japanese government fully understands and respects the Chinese government's position that Taiwan is an inalienable part of the Chinese territory, and insists on abiding by Article 8 of the Potsdam Proclamation.

Taiwan is an inseparable part of China, and the Taiwan question concerns China's core interests and is the political bedrock of the China-Japan relations. The Chinese government has officially released the white paper "The Taiwan Question and China's Reunification in the New Era," which comprehensively expounds the historical perspective and policy proposition regarding the Taiwan question, and demonstrates the firm will and determination of the Communist Party of China and the Chinese people to pursue the reunification of the motherland.

Japan has no right to interfere in China's internal affairs. The one-China principle is the political foundation of the China-Japan relations and a clear commitment made by the Japanese side.

Japanese right-wing forces use the Taiwan question for military expansion

In recent years, Japan's right-wing forces have continued to expand. Under the guise of building a "normal country," these forces forcibly passed a Cabinet resolution to amend the interpretation of the pacifist constitution, making Article 9 of the pacifist constitution useless.

In order to get rid of the shackles of the post-war international order, Japan has frequently hyped up the so-called threat of its neighbors in recent years and upgraded the Japan-U.S. alliance. At present, Japan's right wing is stepping up its agenda of constitutional revision, trying to further change the post-war system and conduct more thorough legal loosening for Japan's military expansion. Meddling in the Taiwan question is an excuse for Japan to achieve this goal. 

Although it still adheres to the one-China principle in its diplomatic rhetoric, Japan has been using various unofficial channels to more actively make contacts with Taiwan.

In March and April, 2021, Japan and the U.S. issued a joint statement after the "2+2" talks between their foreign ministers and their defense ministers, expressing concern about "peace and stability in the Taiwan Strait". In August and December, 2021, Japan held a "2+2" meeting with Taiwan authorities, seeking to develop more contacts with Taiwan in disguise.

Former Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe incited that "if something happens to Taiwan, it means something happens to Japan." In April this year, Abe proposed that the U.S. abandons its "strategic ambiguity." Now, Japan further hypes up the Taiwan question and exacerbates tensions in East Asia.

These Japanese right-wing politicians are using the so-called "Taiwan is very close to Japan"pretense as an excuse to serve their military aims, but it is obviously unconvincing. Japan's resort to force for these alleged reasons can only be interpreted as a determination to completely abandon the principles of the "peace constitution" and to move forward once again towards an expanding military empire and an hegemonic mentality.

Japan must learn from history

Japan always talks about "peace and stability in the Taiwan Strait," but it forgets that it's historical guilt over the Taiwan question. The militaristic war of aggression launched by Japan in the past brought about terrible disasters to the people of the countries in the region, especially those of the victimized countries in Asia.

Correctly understanding and treating that period of history is not only a requirement to defend international justice, but also an important basis for improving relations between Japan and its Asian neighbors.

This year marks the 77th anniversary of Japan's defeat in the war and the 50th anniversary of the normalization of diplomatic relations between China and Japan. Japan must learn from history, abide by its commitments, stop using the Taiwan question to escalate the regional security situation, and truly promote regional and world peace and development.

The author is an assistant researcher at the Institute of Northeast Asian Studies, China Institutes of Contemporary International Relations.