Overview
- China’s foreign ministry demanded Takaichi retract her remarks and warned Japan must bear all consequences, with spokesman Lin Jian labeling any Japanese military intervention in the Taiwan Strait an act of aggression that would be met forcefully.
- Vice Foreign Minister Sun Weidong summoned Ambassador Kenji Kanasugi in Beijing for serious demarches over the comments, formalizing the latest escalation in the dispute.
- Japan protested after China’s consul general in Osaka, Xue Jian, posted a violent remark on X before deleting it, as Liberal Democratic Party figures pressed for punitive measures including possible expulsion.
- Takaichi has called her comments hypothetical and consistent with government policy, saying she will avoid repeating specific scenarios but refusing to retract the assertion that a Taiwan attack could constitute a survival‑threatening situation for Japan.
- Chinese state media intensified criticism, with People’s Daily accusing Tokyo of reviving militarism, while debate in Tokyo over defense strategy and the three non‑nuclear principles drew outside attention, including Russia’s stated concern about a lack of clarity.