China Strongly Protests Abe's Taiwan Remarks... Japanese Ambassador Unusually Summoned

[Image source=AP Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Lee Hyun-woo] The Chinese government strongly protested by summoning the Japanese Ambassador to China over former Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's remarks that the United States and Japan could jointly respond in the event of a contingency in Taiwan. It is highly unusual to summon an ambassador over the remarks of a former prime minister. Considering that former Prime Minister Abe still wields strong influence as the leader of the largest faction within Japan's ruling Liberal Democratic Party, this move is interpreted as a protest against the Japanese government's hardline policy toward China.

According to local media including China's Xinhua News Agency on the 2nd, Hua Chunying, Deputy Director-General (vice-ministerial level) of the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs, summoned Darumi Hideo, the Japanese Ambassador to China, to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs the previous evening to criticize and protest Abe's remarks. Even considering that Abe is still a sitting member of Japan's House of Representatives, summoning the ambassador over the remarks of a former prime minister is regarded as highly unusual.

Deputy Director-General Hua reportedly protested, saying, "Former Prime Minister Abe's remarks made extreme errors regarding the Taiwan issue and grossly interfered in China's internal affairs," and "He openly provoked China's sovereignty and supported Taiwan independence forces." She further criticized, "They must not go down the wrong path; playing with fire will burn themselves as well."

Earlier, according to the Nihon Keizai Shimbun (Nikkei), former Prime Minister Abe attended a forum of the Taiwan National Policy Research Institute via video conference the previous day and warned strongly, "In the event of a contingency in Taiwan, the US-Japan alliance will also be in a state of emergency. China's armed invasion of Taiwan will inevitably pose a significant geographical and spatial threat to Japanese territory," adding, "The Chinese leadership, especially President Xi Jinping, must recognize this, and there must be no misunderstanding."

Before summoning the Japanese ambassador, the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs also criticized Abe's remarks during a regular briefing, issuing a warning message that "Those who oppose the Chinese people will surely have their heads broken and bleed." This expression is known to have been used by President Xi Jinping during his speech at the 100th anniversary of the founding of the Chinese Communist Party in July.

In response to China's protest, Ambassador Darumi reportedly replied, "China should understand that there are such views within Japan regarding the situation surrounding Taiwan," and "China's unilateral claims are unacceptable." Ambassador Darumi further drew a line, saying, "Regarding the remarks of a person who has left the Japanese government, the government itself is not in a position to comment."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.