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The recent rift between China and Japan has deepened further this week,with Beijing criticizing Tokyo’s plans to deploy missiles on an island close to Taiwan.
Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Mao Ning said Japan's deployment of offensive weapons on Yonaguni Island is a deliberate move to stoke regional tensions and provoke military confrontation.
The island lies just 110 kilometres east of Taiwan, and is part of Japan’s Okinawa Prefecture.
The current escalation began after Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi made comments earlier this month, suggesting that a Chinese attack or blockade of Taiwan could pose an “existential” threat to Japan — potentially justifying Japan’s use of force under its collective self-defence doctrine.
“If it involves the use of warships and military actions, it could by all means become a survival-threatening situation,” Taikachi told the Japanese parliament, responding to an opposition question.
Things have been tense in the past, but the latest moves mark a more overt and aggressive posture than Japan has historically voiced about Taiwan.
It’s a painful history too. Imperial Japan occupied large parts of China after the First Sino-Japanese War (1894-95), when it gained control of Taiwan and forcefully annexed Korea.
In 1937, Japan launched a full-scale invasion of China in what became known as the Second Sino-Japanese War. Amid strong Chinese resistance, Japan occupied parts of eastern and southern China, where it created and controlled local administrations. The defeat of Japan in 1945 finally ended the occupation.
The Chinese Communist Party was the victor in the civil war that followed the Japanese surrender, The defeated Kuomintang, and leader Chiang Kai-shek, fled to Taiwan to set up a parallel government.
But Taiwan remains a core “red line.” issue for Beijing, which regards the island as part of its territory — “inevitable reunification” is often mentioned — and Beijing also remains opposed to any third-party intervening militarily.
Japan’s growing security concerns reflect China’s expanding maritime and military activity.
Japan’s recent defence report calls China’s moves “the biggest strategic challenge.”
In response to Takaichi’s remarks, China has responded by suspending Japanese seafood imports;, and issuing travel and study warnings for its citizens intending to travel to Japan.
Analysts are also concerned that China could further use export controls (eg, on rare-earths) to pressure Japan
In Japan, Takaichi’s comments reflect a more hawkish attitude, and some analysts see them as linked to domestic political pressures.
In China, Beijing is also under internal pressures — economic slowdown, demographic challenges — so showing strength externally is useful strategically.
China wants to warn the wider region that it will not abide interference in what it considers its core interests.
On the economic front, prolonged retaliation like export controls will damage important Japanese industries, but also backfire on China given the significant economic interdependence between the two.
For the international community there’s also concern that a China-Japan conflict over Taiwan could spiral into a larger regional crisis which could be difficult to control.
Asia Media Centre
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