OMM Redaksiyası
China’s Foreign Minister Wang Yi has urged Japan to “correct” its leaders’ statements and actions regarding Taiwan, saying bilateral relations between the two Asian economic powers remain in a “grave situation”.
Wang made the remarks in Beijing on Monday during a meeting with Takeshi Iwaya, head of the Japan Association for the Promotion of International Trade, according to a statement from China’s Foreign Ministry.
“For Japan, the urgent task is to correct as soon as possible the erroneous words and actions of its leaders on the Taiwan question,” Wang said.
China calls for normalisation of relations
Wang said China-Japan relations needed to be “normalized once more”. He also warned Japan against challenging its postwar “Peace Constitution” or attempting to “rehabilitate war criminals”.
His remarks came as Japan marks the 80th anniversary of the opening of the Tokyo Trials.
Iwaya, who previously served as Japan’s foreign minister, said the current state of bilateral relations was worrying, according to the statement.
Tensions over Taiwan and military deployments
Relations have remained strained since Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi said in November that a Chinese attack on Taiwan could constitute a “survival-threatening situation” for Japan. Such a designation could allow Tokyo to exercise the right to collective self-defence.
Beijing has repeatedly protested against those remarks.
Separately, the United States’ Typhon missile system deployed in southwestern Japan will be moved to Kadena Air Base in Okinawa around mid-October, Kyodo News reported on Tuesday, citing Japanese Defence Minister Shinjiro Koizumi.
The system, which can launch Tomahawk cruise missiles, will not be permanently deployed at the base. China has criticised the deployment.
Despite the tensions, China and Japan are due to mark 55 years of normalised diplomatic ties next year.
