Japan Militarily Threatening China, Says Wang Yi in Talks With German Counterpart

C

hina on Monday accused Japan of posing a military threat, with Foreign Minister Wang Yi sharply criticizing Tokyo over a recent aerial incident and its growing alignment with Taiwan. The remarks came during Wang’s meeting in Beijing with German Foreign Minister Johann Wadephul.

Tensions flared after Japan said Chinese fighter jets had locked their radar onto Japanese military aircraft over the East China Sea. Tokyo condemned the action as dangerous and escalatory. Beijing rejected the accusation, saying Japanese aircraft had repeatedly approached and disrupted Chinese naval forces conducting previously announced carrier-based flight training east of the Miyako Strait.

Relations have worsened in recent weeks, particularly after Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi said Japan could respond if any Chinese military action against Taiwan also threatened Japan’s security. China says such remarks cross a red line.

Wang said Japan should act with “greater caution,” especially in a year marking the 80th anniversary of the end of World War II, stressing that Japan, “as a defeated nation,” bears historical responsibility. He accused Takaichi of “exploiting the Taiwan question”—which Japan colonized from 1895 to 1945—to “provoke trouble and threaten China militarily.”

“This is completely unacceptable,” Wang said, according to China’s official Xinhua news agency.

Beijing reasserts claims over Taiwan

Beijing maintains that Taiwan is an inalienable part of China. Wang said the island’s status had been “unequivocally and irreversibly affirmed” by historical and legal documents, adding that the People’s Republic of China is the successor state to the Republic of China and therefore “naturally enjoys sovereignty over Taiwan.”

Taiwan rejected the claims. Officials in Taipei emphasized that the People’s Republic of China did not exist in 1945 and has never governed Taiwan, whose formal name remains the Republic of China. Taiwan’s government regularly accuses Beijing of distorting history to justify its territorial claims.

Japan also disputed Beijing’s justification for the radar encounter. Chief Cabinet Secretary Minoru Kihara said the “intermittent illumination of radar beams is a dangerous act that goes beyond what is safe and necessary.” He declined to confirm media reports that China did not respond via the bilateral defense hotline established in 2018.

Germany urges restraint amid rising tensions

The radar incident has raised concerns over the risk of miscalculation between two of Asia’s largest military powers. Both countries have expanded their military capabilities amid rising geopolitical competition across the region.

German Foreign Minister Wadephul urged both sides to avoid escalation. His trip to Beijing is part of a broader European diplomatic effort to stabilize regional tensions as China and Japan’s rivalry intensifies.

Analysts say the combination of heightened political rhetoric and increased military activity around Taiwan and the East China Sea could lead to more dangerous confrontations unless communication mechanisms between Beijing and Tokyo are strengthened.

(Source: Reuters)