Overview
- On Saturday, Xue Jian, China’s consul general in Osaka, posted on X that he would “without a second’s hesitation” cut the “dirty neck” of Japan’s leader, linking to coverage of Sanae Takaichi’s Taiwan comments; the post was later deleted.
- Japan’s government on Monday called the message extremely inappropriate, lodged an official protest, and demanded the post’s removal.
- Takaichi told parliament on Friday that a Taiwan conflict escalation could threaten Japan’s existence and she would not rule out deploying troops in a worst‑case scenario under collective self‑defense.
- She said she would not retract her remarks but would avoid detailing concrete scenarios in future statements.
- China’s Foreign Ministry reiterated that Taiwan is an inseparable part of Chinese territory and urged Japan to reflect on historical guilt and avoid sending wrong signals to independence advocates.