Tokyo has launched urgent diplomatic outreach as Beijing ramps up retaliation, media attacks, and travel warnings over Takaichi’s Taiwan comments

Relations between the two neighbours have soured recently after Takaichi became the first sitting Japanese leader in decades to publicly link a Taiwan Strait crisis with the possible deployment of Japanese troops.

Her recent comments do not represent a new commitment for Japan to defend Taiwan – or a departure from previous policy.

Zhu Fenglian, spokesperson for the State Council Taiwan Affairs Office, said at a regular conference that Takaichi's remarks attempt to interfere in the situation in the Taiwan Strait, deny the outcomes of the Chinese People's War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression, and revive militarism.

Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi angered Beijing by saying that a Chinese attack on Taiwan could be a “survival-threatening situation” and bring a military response from Tokyo.

TOKYO -- China tensions triggered by Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi's recent comment on a potential crisis in Taiwan remain high, but two related issues -- Japan acting alongside U.S. forces and its exercise of collective self-defense rights in defending the island -- need to be considered separately, former officials say.

The Japanese public is divided over exercising collective self-defense against a Chinese attack on Taiwan. A recent poll shows mixed opinions, while Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi aims to boost defense spending.

The Japanese prime minister’s comments about military intervention were unusually direct for such a sensitive topic.