China summons Japan ambassador over PM Taiwan comments

• China summoned the Japanese ambassador and issued a stern warning over comments from Japan's new Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi suggesting Japanese forces could be sent to support Taiwan.
• Takaichi refused to retract her statement, while Beijing warned it would "strike back hard" against any interference in its unification with Taiwan.

China summoned the Japanese ambassador over remarks by the new premier about Taiwan, Beijing said Friday, as Tokyo insisted its position on the self-ruled island was unchanged.

Last week, Japan's hawkish new Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi told parliament that armed attacks on Taiwan could warrant sending troops to support the island under "collective self-defence".

If an emergency in Taiwan entails "battleships and the use of force, then that could constitute a situation threatening the survival (of Japan), any way you slice it", she said.

Beijing insists Taiwan is part of its territory and has not ruled out the use of force to seize control of the self-governing island.

Vice Foreign Minister Sun Weidong summoned the Japanese ambassador to China Kenji Kanasugi on Thursday, according to a statement published Friday on Beijing's foreign ministry website.

It said Sun made "serious demarches over Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi's erroneous remarks regarding China".

"If anyone dares to interfere with China's unification cause in any form, China will surely strike back hard," the statement added.

Japan's Chief Cabinet Secretary Minoru Kihara said on Friday that his government's position on Taiwan remains unchanged and "is consistent with the 1972 Japan-China Joint Communique".

The 1972 communique normalised bilateral relations, with Japan acknowledging the "One China" policy recognised by many other countries including the United States.

"Peace and stability in the Taiwan Strait are important not only for Japan's security but also for the stability of the international community," Kihara told reporters.

"We will continue to strongly urge China to take appropriate action," he added.

Diplomatic spat

Beijing's foreign ministry on Thursday said it would "by no means tolerate" Takaichi's Taiwan comments.

"The Japanese side must correct its wrongdoing at once and retract the unjustified remarks," spokesman Lin Jian told reporters at a press briefing.

In response, Takaichi told parliament Monday she had no intention of retracting her statement and insisted it was consistent with Tokyo's previous stance.

But she said she would refrain from referring to specific scenarios in the future.

Long seen as a China hawk, Takaichi has been a regular visitor to the Yasukuni shrine that honours Japan's war dead and is an outspoken backer of Taiwan, advocating security ties with the self-ruled island.

Security legislation passed in 2015 allows Japan to exercise the right to collective self-defence under certain conditions including if there was a clear danger to the country's survival.

In response to Takaichi's comments, the Chinese consul general in Osaka Xue Jian threatened in a now-removed social media post to "cut off that dirty neck without a second of hesitation".

He did not name Takaichi but quoted a news article about her remarks.

Japanese Foreign Minister Toshimitsu Motegi said on Thursday that Xue's post was "highly inappropriate".

"We strongly urge the Chinese side to continue taking appropriate measures to ensure that this does not affect the broad direction of Japan-China relations," added Motegi, who was in Canada for a G7 meeting.