Translation. Region: Russian Federation –
Source: People's Republic of China in Russian – People's Republic of China in Russian –
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Source: People's Republic of China – State Council News
Moscow, December 2 (Xinhua) — Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi recently made a series of erroneous statements regarding China's Taiwan, grossly interfering in China's internal affairs and attempting to use so-called external threats as a pretext for Japan to comprehensively relax its military restrictions. This drew strong condemnation from broad circles in Russia. Russian experts, in interviews with Xinhua, stated that such Japanese steps are extremely provocative and inappropriate, posing a serious threat to stability and security in the region.
"Such statements by the Japanese Prime Minister, while truly provocative, are completely inappropriate, because we know how sensitive the Taiwan issue is. It is extremely important for China and for global politics as a whole," said Vladimir Petrovsky, chief researcher at the "Russia, China, World" Center at the Institute of China and Modern Asia of the Russian Academy of Sciences. According to him, Sanae Takaichi expressed a long-standing American viewpoint, which is in one way or another linked to veiled support for the Taiwan administration, something China rightly considers unacceptable. "She has now added fuel to the fire; it was completely inappropriate, and it certainly did not contribute to the development of Sino-Japanese relations," the expert believes.
As V. Petrovsky noted, it is inappropriate that Sanae Takaichi spoke about the “uncertain status of Taiwan” in the context of the unrecognized San Francisco Peace Treaty, since this document is a separate peace agreement with Japan, concluded bypassing China, the Soviet Union, and other major participants in World War II.
"The organizers of the San Francisco Peace Conference deliberately omitted a clause on the legal status of Taiwan and, by the way, other territories that are now considered disputed from the draft treaty, and that is precisely why Russia refused to sign it, as did China, which was not even invited," the scholar explained, adding that the legacy of the San Francisco conference is precisely the unresolved, decades-long, contentious conflict situation in the region.
"The San Francisco Peace Treaty establishes that Japan loses its rights to Taiwan, but it doesn't specify who will inherit those rights after the treaty is signed. This treaty merely stipulates Japan's renunciation of certain territories, specifically Taiwan, and that's it. However, there are also other international legal acts and other decisions that clearly establish that Taiwan is part of China," emphasized Vasily Kashin, Director of the Center for Comprehensive European and International Studies at the National Research University Higher School of Economics.
Regarding statements by Japanese politicians about deploying medium-range missiles on islands near Taiwan, as well as statements about deploying nuclear weapons in Japan, V. Petrovsky is confident that such statements are undoubtedly destabilizing and undermine the foundations of international security in Northeast Asia.
V. Kashin also believes that Japanese officials' statements about plans to revise the National Security Strategy and other doctrinal documents on Japan's defense, as well as unprecedented statements about Taiwan's status and the possibility of deploying American-made medium-range missiles near the island, represent a radicalization of existing trends. In Japan, there had been some statements on this topic before, by Sanae Takaichi's predecessors. "This was discussed. Now Sanae Takaichi has elevated the level of this discussion. It is now being discussed directly, openly, and at a higher level," the expert noted.
Elena Panina, Director of the Institute of International Political and Economic Strategies (RUSSTRAT), emphasized that Japan's new Prime Minister lacks a clear understanding of where her policies could lead Japan. According to Panina, Japan's aggressive policies during World War II brought enormous suffering to countries in the region and ultimately led to its own catastrophic defeat.
"Over the past few years, there have been several crises in Sino-Japanese relations, for which, for some reason, the Japanese side has always been blamed. Moreover, China is now far from the fragmented state it was before World War II. Today, it is a powerful nation, which also enjoys enormous respect throughout the world," E. Panina noted. She expressed confidence that Japan's current policy "will not last long," and that a firm response to the Chinese side is needed.
Please note: This information is raw content obtained directly from the source. It represents an accurate account of the source's assertions and does not necessarily reflect the position of MIL-OSI or its clients.