Japan trying to revive wartime militarism with its Taiwan comments, China’s top paper says

China’s top diplomat in Osaka shared a news article about Takaichi’s remarks about Taiwan on X and commented “the dirty neck that sticks itself in must be cut off”, prompting a protest from Japan’s embassy in Beijing to Chinese Vice Foreign Minister Sun Weidong.

Chinese state media has since weighed in with a series of vitriolic editorials and commentaries lambasting Takaichi, given lingering grievances about Japan’s wartime past and China’s extreme sensitivity about anything Taiwan related.

The ruling Communist Party’s official People’s Daily in its commentary said Takaichi’s remarks were by no means an “isolated political rant”.

Japan’s right wing has been trying to break free from the constraints of their post-World War Two constitution and pursue the status of a military power, said the commentary published under the pen name “Zhong Sheng”, meaning “Voice of China” and often used to give views on foreign policy.

“In recent years, Japan has been racing headlong down the path of military buildup,” the paper added.

“From frequent visits to the Yasukuni Shrine, to denying the Nanjing Massacre, to vigorously hyping the ‘China threat theory,’ Takaichi’s every step follows the old footprints of historical guilt, attempting to whitewash a history of aggression and revive militarism.”

World War Two, and the Japanese invasion of China which preceded it in 1931, remains a source of ongoing tension between Beijing and Tokyo.

The People’s Daily said that historically, Japanese militarism has used so-called “survival crises” as pretexts for external aggression, including the 1931 Mukden Incident, the excuse Japan used to invade China’s Manchuria.

“Now that similar rhetoric is being revived, does Japan intend to repeat the mistakes of history?” the paper added.

Beijing claims democratically governed Taiwan as its own and has not ruled out using force to take control of the island. Taiwan’s government rejects Beijing’s claims and says only its people can decide the island’s future.

Taiwan sits just over 110 km (68 miles) from Japanese territory and the waters around the island provide a vital sea route for trade that Tokyo depends on. Japan also hosts the largest contingent of U.S. military overseas.

Meanwhile, Japanese broadcaster NTV reported on Friday the Chinese embassy in Tokyo had instructed its staff to avoid going out due to concerns about rising anti-China sentiment.

In a regular news conference, Japan’s top government spokesperson Minoru Kihara reiterated the coutry’s position on Taiwan, telling reporters that Tokyo hopes for a peaceful resolution of the issue through dialogue.

‘SELF-DIRECTED FARCE’

China has also cranked up its rhetoric against what it calls “diehard” Taiwan independence separatists.

On Friday, the State Council’s Taiwan Affairs Office criticised Taiwan’s ruling Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) lawmaker Puma Shen, who visited Berlin earlier this week. Shen said China was threatening to try to get him arrested while abroad, but that he was not frightened.

“Taiwan independence advocates are already at the dusk of their days and at a dead end,” the office’s spokesperson Chen Binhua said, according to state broadcaster CCTV.

“The furtive, self-directed farce of visits staged by the likes of Puma Shen and the DPP authorities only exposes their inner panic at the punitive sword hanging high above them,” Chen added.

A day earlier, Chinese police issued a wanted notice and offered a $35,000 reward for two Taiwanese social media influencers they accused of “separatism”, what Taipei says is an effort by China to bring fear to Taiwanese.