Beijing: In a sharp escalation of Sino-Japanese tensions over Taiwan, China has lodged a formal protest with the United Nations, accusing Tokyo of dangerous provocations that could unravel the post-World War II order and branding Japan unfit for a permanent seat on the UN Security Council.
The diplomatic salvo comes in response to remarks by Japan’s Minister for Economic Security, Sanae Takaichi, on November 7. Takaichi asserted that a Chinese military assault on Taiwan would represent an “existential threat” to Japan, potentially justifying collective self-defence under its security alliance with the United States. Beijing swiftly condemned the statement as “misleading” and a grave violation of international norms.
China’s Permanent Representative to the UN, Fu Cong, sent a stern letter to Secretary-General António Guterres on Friday, decrying Takaichi’s words as the first since Japan’s 1945 surrender to tie Taiwan explicitly to Japanese defence prerogatives and the threat of force. “This is very wrong and very dangerous,” Fu wrote, labelling the comments an insult to 1.4 billion Chinese citizens and Asian nations scarred by Japan’s wartime aggression.
Ignoring repeated Chinese démarches, Tokyo has doubled down, refusing demands to retract the statement.
Fu’s missive, soon to circulate as an official UN General Assembly document to all member states, serves a grave ultimatum: any Japanese armed intervention in Taiwan would be deemed “aggression”, prompting China to invoke its UN Charter right to self-defence. It urges Japan to introspect on its historical atrocities and recommit to the one-China principle.
This UN gambit follows China’s recent tit-for-tat measures, including bans on Japanese seafood imports and travel advisories for its citizens visiting Japan. As regional fault lines deepen, analysts warn that the feud risks broader instability, with Taiwan at its volatile epicentre.