Tokyo Blasts China’s ‘Baseless’ UN ‘Enemy State’ Claim It Can Attack Japan | Taiwan Talks EP723

Tokyo Blasts China’s ‘Baseless’ UN ‘Enemy State’ Claim It Can Attack Japan | Taiwan Talks EP723

Tokyo has blasted Beijing over entirely baseless statements it made in a letter sent to the UN Secretary General as China takes its campaign against Japan to the United Nations. In the letter, Beijing falsely alleges Tokyo has committed a quote so-called grave violation of international law. And if Japan dares to attempt an armed intervention in the crossstrait situation, it would be an act of aggression. This China says it would counter with quote resolute self-defense. China’s embassy to Japan went further again falsely misinterpreting a now obsolete clause of the UN charter. Beijing said the charter quote specifically establishes an enemy state clause stipulating that if any of the fascist or militaristic states such as Germany, Italy or Japan takes any step to aggression, the founding members of the UN such as China, France, the Soviet Union and the United Kingdom and the United States have the right to take direct military action against it without the authorization of the Security Council. What does Beijing’s maximum diplomatic pressure campaign on Tokyo reveal about China’s fears? And given Takayichi was speaking of Tokyo’s self-defense in the face of an existential threat to Japan itself, a right under the UN charter, in this case triggered by an illegal Chinese invasion of Taiwan, will the international community call China out and urge Beijing to reign in its dangerous campaign? Hello and welcome to Taiwan Talks. I’m Kavat joined today uh from Tokyo, Steven Negi, Japan Institute for International Affairs visiting fellow. We also have in the studio Ronenfu, Academia Cynica Institute of Political Science Assistant Research Fellow and Michael Chen, Democratic Progressive Party International Affairs Director. A very warm welcome to both of you in the studio and also Steven online from Tokyo. Stephen, let’s start with you first. Um so let’s start with the Chinese embassy in Japan’s comments about these fascist states and what the embassy seems to be saying um perhaps about Beijing’s unilateral power to take military force against Japan. Well, clearly Tokyo and Japan are not fascist states. Uh Japan’s had 80 years of peace as three non-uclear policies. uh it’s never used a bullet across overseas in 80 years and has continued to invest in international law, international institutions, development and peace and stability across the Taiwan straits. The Chinese embassy’s accusations about Japan being a milit militarist and fascist are simply not in line with the reality of of Japan today and Japan over the past 80 years. And I think the international community understands this very clearly. And Stephen, I mean, would it be true that many uh in the region actually see that China might be the one that is aggressive? I mean, what is it that China is so scared about? Well, I think Prime Minister Takichi has made a very matterof fact statement. It’s not brain surgery that what happens to Taiwan in the case of a forced reunification with China would have consequences that affect all states in the region. 2.3 trillion US dollars of trade going around the sea lines of communication around Taiwan. It’s the hub of semiconductor chips that go in our iPads, iPhones, cars, bridges, and defense industry. and it is a beacon of democracy uh in the in the region at all three levels. If there was a force reunification, this would have direct implications to the Japanese economy in terms of sea lines of communication, energy resources, those key semiconductors that go into technologies uh that Japan is known for. Okay, let me bring Ronan in in the studio. Um, so after listing some of Japan’s atrocities in World War II and the use of self-defense for the 1931 Muckdan inst incident, the Chinese ambassador’s letter asks, “Now Takayichi again raised the issue of survival threatening situation. What is her true intention? Is Japan going to repeat its past mistakes of militarism? Does Japan try to once again make enemies with the Chinese and other Asian people?” And it goes on to say, “As a defeated country of World War II, Japan must deeply reflect upon its historical crimes, strictly honor its political commitment on the Taiwan question, immediately stop making provocations and crossing the line, and retract its erroneous remarks. What is China’s strategy in bringing up Japan’s World War II atrocities?” Yeah. So the here the idea is that China is extremely worried about the potential international support for Taiwan under contingencies. So how to really uh try to delegitimize such effort is actually to accuse of Japan of something they have not been doing for a very long time. And as we can see that according to various pools uh and by different institutions Japan is widely considered as a trustworthy country across the world in different regions Latin America, Africa, Southeast Asia, you name it, right? So the idea is just try to use some rhetorical strategies to digitize Japan. But uh my prediction is that such effort will go in vain. Okay. Uh, Michael, let’s um listen take a listen to Singapore’s Prime Minister uh Lawrence Wong. Let’s let’s take a look. We hope the two countries will find ways to resolve these very complex issues and move forward. Southeast Asia has done that with Japan. As far as the history is concerned, it has taken some time. But with the passage of time, with the passing of generations, the feelings are not the same. And we have put the history aside and we’re moving forward. And it’s quite striking that survey after survey shows that Japan is the number one trusted great power in Southeast Asia. And so Singapore and all the Southeast Asian countries support Japan playing a bigger role in our region, including on the security front because we think that provides for some stability in the region. Michael, a little bit ironic, isn’t it? the Singapore PM’s comments there, they actually want uh Japan to play a greater security role. Who would that be against them? Well, I think you know it’s against all all threats in the region that threaten to you know destabilize regional peace and where does that source of the threat come from? Well, I think it’s implicit in the prime minister’s statement, but I think we can, you know, reasonably uh understand that he’s talking about China. Mhm. And look, you know, it’s interesting and significant that this statement has come from the Singaporean prime minister. Uh Singapore being a country that um is always balanced and tries to find the balance between, you know, the US and China. And you say that they’re balanced, but there is also a perception that Singapore might be more pro-China. Yes, exactly. So, which which is what makes this statement all the more important, right? even Singapore um that seeks to strike a balance and some say as you note sometimes can be a bit more China leaning even the prime minister of Singapore is basically stating that look we think that Japan is the stabilizing force here and China should calm down right so I mean we obviously we get that China is thrown trying to throw everything behind forcing Takayichi to retract her comments about this collective self-defense events um in you know in a scenario of a Taiwan crisis that threatens the survival of Japan. Um but um you know Takayichi so far has not uh retracted her comments. What is uh the Japanese PM’s calculus do you think? First, I think there’s a clear understanding not only in Tokyo, but whether it’s Seoul or Canber or Ottawa or where you are sitting in Taipei, that if you compromise with a bully, it opens the door up to future exploitation by that bully. So she wants to make a red line and demonstrate that Japan is not going to compromise on the Taiwan issue and defending itself in the case that China starts a military conflict uh to reunify with Taiwan. M the second thing she wants to do is to consolidate her position domestically and strengthen that position domestically so she can continue to forge what they call a free and open Indo-Pacific that they feel Taiwan plays an important part in again as a democracy as an important economy in the region and Stephen um I mean also is there another factor which is that frankly there is this 2015 security legislation um and So she is unable to retract those comments. So because of this 2015 collective defense agreement, Japan will have to defend itself and defend the United States in the case of some kind of force reunification with Taiwan in which the Chinese are heading state uh head-to-head with the United States to defend the peace and stability across the Taiwan straits. Uh Ronan, foreign minister Wangi is a very is the latest sort of in a long series of Chinese officials. Uh basically they appear to be pouring uh petrol gas um on this fire. Um he has come out he said Taki’s comments were shocking. They crossed the red uh China’s red lines. Um, but when it comes to crossing a red line, I mean, if we go back to the root of all this, would an invasion of Taiwan, you know, that use of force to take Taiwan, would that also be seen as crossing a very big red line for the rest of the community, international community? Obviously, it’s not only the red line. It’s a big no no. It’s nothing that you can be supportive of. That’s also reason why China’s cor diplomacy has has actually boosted Takichi’s popularity uh domestically. M and you know her statement actually has garnered some international support you know uh what do you make of China diverting the attention away from that red line you know and then trying to you know turn the tables and twist the narrative in terms of putting blame on Japan. Yeah. So it’s a very clear propaganda toward the domestic audience but often times it comes with some unintended consequences internationally. So what we are seeing is the international big firing of China’s course of diplomacy. So what you’re going to see is that not only in Japan where the leaders popularity actually increase, you’re going to see some international backlash against China’s you know propaganda efforts. M so so on that topic u of backlash Michael so the Chinese ambassador to the UN also said and this was in a UN general assembly pleenary uh meeting about um reform for the UN security council he said such a country as in Japan is is totally unqualified to seek a permanent seat on the security council so given Singapore’s reaction um how might do you think others in the UN react do you think there could indeed be a backlash against China for just going, you know, simply too far. Well, I think, you know, language like that usually backfires. Um, and I think it’ll be the case uh in this instance when they have gone so far as to suggest that Japan is a former enemy state, that it doesn’t deserve a seat on the security council. And by the way, that that was completely obsolete, wasn’t it? Of course. Of course. You know, they not that they care. Uh I mean they I think I think a lot of what they’re doing uh what you see on the international stage UN etc publicly stating that uh their PM is not meeting with uh Takahi etc. A lot of that is aimed at their domestic audience to convey to the Chinese audience that you know we the Chinese the people the government are tough against Japan and they are weak and you know helpless and and and even submissive right now. Now, Tagayi Sana’s approval ratings have reached 69% and are currently higher than previous Japanese prime ministers in Sahi Shimon surveys. Her personal rating increased rather than decreased as is customary in a PM second public survey. The last survey was conducted just after November 14th when the Chinese foreign ministry urged Chinese citizens to stop travel to Japan. Meanwhile, a Kyoto survey, which has Takayichi’s cabinet on a 69.9% approval rating, found a majority of the Japanese public, that’s 60.4% supported Takahi’s plan to increase defense spending to reinforce national security. And when it came to Taiwan, more responders, almost half, 48.8% 8% agreed that a Chinese military action such as a naval blockade could be a survival threatening situation for Japan more than those that did not allowing the country to exercise its right to collective self-defense. Now analysts say this is a huge shift in public opinion compared to a decade ago. Takahichi has pledged to accelerate the doubling of defense spending to 2% of GDP ahead of 2027’s original target. So Stephen, now you’re actually in Tokyo. Would you say that China has increased Taki’s popularity in Japan? I think China has increased u China’s unpopularity in Japan. I think there’s a there’s a bit of a distinction. Uh I I do think people are supportive of Prime Minister Takishi because she’s a first woman. She did an exceptional job welcoming President Trump uh in in a quick visit to Tokyo and at the Apex seminar. But I think importantly, the Japanese are looking at Japanese agg or Chinese aggression through the lens of the Russian war of Ukraine, cooperation between the Russians and the North Koreans on satellite technology and satellites, the September 3rd parade, the continued aggression by uh the Chinese and the South China Sea, the East China Sea, and across the Taiwan Strait sent the message to the ordinary Japanese person that they have serious defense security concerns in the region. They need to support the prime minister and they need to accelerate defense spending so they can deal with these challenges. And to be frank, let me finish. to be frank, support the United States because if the United States is not anchored in the region and not a solid partner in the region, the broader IndoPacific security architecture will collapse and countries like China will be able to have their way with not only um Taiwan but the broader region. Michael um let’s go to the next question. So the US and Taiwan have been the most vocal in their support for Takahi and Japan in the face of China’s threats. On November 20th, the US State Department made its first official comment with principal deputy spokesperson Thomas Pigot posting on X, “Our commitment to the US Japan alliance and to Japan’s defense, including the Japan administers S Kakuz is unwavering. We firmly oppose any unilateral attempts to change the status quo, including through force or coercion in the Taiwan Strait, East China Sea or South China Sea.” Uh and on the same day, US ambassador George Glass told reporters that Japanese foreign ministry for the prime minister, “We have her back.” And following China’s council general’s quote outrageous expost, Glass posted, “The mask slips again.” Meanwhile, here in Taiwan, President Linga has ordered the lifting of all restrictions on Japanese seafood, which had been in place following the Fukushima nuclear disaster, promoting images of himself eating sushi and the launch of a campaign to send Taiwanese tourists to Japan. The international support that we’ve seen, the public international support of Japan, um is is it enough uh or were you expecting to see more? I think international support for Taki is significant. Um I think for the for the moment um I think it’s been quite strong um robust support that we we’re seeing from all parties and and also you know they’re sending a message to China as well right we haven’t seen anything from Australia from South Korea uh and the US uh would you count that as a a statement of support an official statement uh something on X from a deputy spokesperson well I think it’s you know statement I think the statements from the US have been quite significant If you look at the content of the uh of the posts of state department saying that you know our support for Japan is unwavering including the zakus that you as you noted and ambassador glass using very strong language to say that prime minister Akashi we have your back you know it’s not just a statement of support for Japan for the incident but uh furthermore it’s a statement of support for the prime minister herself. Um, and of course here in Taiwan, you know, we’re showing our strong support, uh, lifting the food ban, um, promoting travel to Japan. And it’s not just the president, it’s it’s the entire country. You know, the people of Taiwan, uh, stand strongly with Japan. And what we’re doing at this moment is showing that, you know, our relationship isn’t just conditional, uh, isn’t just, you know, situational. Our friendship is real and our support is real. Okay, let’s bring um, Stephen back um, on this particular question. Did you expect um any you know statements of support from Australia, South Korea? I think they’re all calibrating their support for Japan. When we look at Southeast Asian countries, we look at South Korea, Australia, United States, Canada, where I’m from, they’re all thinking about how they can maintain that economic relationship. And they’re doing this with a couple things in the back of their head. You know, the liberation day tariffs by the United States have unsettled many allies, and they’ve reached out to China in some ways to stabilize their economies as the Trump administration has put Trump uh uh Trump tariffs on on their economies. And I think they are wondering, you know, how to balance their support for Japan without being criticized by the Chinese and having similar tariffs against them. Uh but underneath I think the concerns what we’re seeing is is u discussions between military officials and self-defense officials in Japan, intelligence sharing, u shared understanding about how to deal with uh China’s massive disinformation campaign and economic coercion. And I’m not going to be surprised if the coming year we’re going to see see some discussions at the G7 and other forums in which they bring back uh joint statements about economic coercion working together on disinformation and try to find ways to push back against this behavior by Beijing and other states. They can only do this by working together. And if they don’t support Japan this time, the reality they’ll be on target next time. Okay. Now, Japan has protested a video posted by a social media account of China’s CCTV titled Japanese official bows his head while listening to the Chinese side. It shows Japanese diplomat Masaki Kana inclining his head while his counterChinese counterpart Leo Jin Song stands with his hands in his pockets wearing a Mao suit style outfit. Um now Ronan so we can see uh from that we could see from that video that that tilting of his head was actually to listen to his um interpreter. Michael mentioned that China has to be seen as strong, Japan is weak, you know. So so how successful is this kind of video, you know, not not domestically in China but globally? globally the the effectiveness will be very limited because it’s simply not convincing. Uh obviously you know China is trying to play a multi-pledge approach domestically you know uh submitting the formulary to to the UN narratively trying to accuse Japan of being provocative and being a revivalist and you know economically trying actually to impose an economic sanction onto Japan. Right? So what we are going to see is that the effectiveness of China’s you know doing will be dependent on how they actually respond to Japan. If they actually push uh Japan very hard so we are going to see a backlash you know from Japan and also from the international uh society you know countries like uh Taiwan and you mentioned Australia and and South Korea and we could also say the Philippines. Yeah. If I think if the situation basically just remain uh as it of now then I think that a lot of the country will actually just employ like a wait and see approach but if that got intensified my prediction is that they are going to you know say something on this matter. Okay. Um so in terms of the coercion so over the past two weeks since Takahi made her comments about Japan’s collective self-defense China has hit Japan with a toolbox of economic diplomatic and gray zone coercion. Uh most recently, Premier Lee Chang uh has refused to meet with Tagayichi at the G20 summit in South Africa. China has banned Japanese seafood, issued Japan travel warning. 10 plus airlines have offered refunds and estimated 500,000 tickets have been cancelled. Students have been asked to reassess study plans in Japan. Chinese cinemas have halted the release of Japanese movies, Japanese concerts, and cultural events have been cancelled. Even the trilateral cultural ministers meeting u between Japan, China and South Korea has been cancelled. Major events canled including Tokyo Beijing forum. Um there’s been increased military presence near Saku or Dao Thai Islands. Um also suspected drone sightings near Yonagoni Island, livefire military drills in the Yellow Sea. Michael, if I could come to you, what do you make of these as a whole? Do you sense that they have been calibrating? So for example, we haven’t seen the, you know, restriction of rare earth yet. What do you make of this package so far? How effective are they? Well, I think so far what we’re seeing is China throwing the entire coercion playbook at Japan. You know, the all the things you mentioned, the economic pressure, the tourism bans. Is it the complete playbook though? I mean, it’s part of a complete playbook. Um, and of course there are other tools that, you know, China is perhaps waiting to employ and and rare could be one of them. Um, and and there are multiple possibilities as to why they haven’t uh used that tool yet. Um, perhaps it’s because they’ve used it before and using it only causes other countries to unite together and and search for alternatives. For example, the United States. Exactly. So they know that, you know, they could use that tool, but it could lead to unintended consequences, right? And so what we’re saying is there are costs on China itself or raising the ante too high. Yeah, of course, people will be start to grow immune to those tools. Same way when China banned tourists to Taiwan, well, we suffered a little bit, but we quickly grew back. We found alternatives for tourists and we’re doing better than ever. Okay. So, Steven, final question to you. I’d like to get your thoughts on how you think um this will end and indeed if there are any offramps. So, the last time we saw this level of tension was back in 2010 2012 um after the arrest of uh Chinese fishermen that rammed Japanese coast guards and then the nationalization of the um Saku or Duta Islands in 2012. It took about five years of hard diplomacy under the late prime minister Shinszo AB to work uh to a constructive and functional level with his counterpart in Beijing, Shiin Ping. But Japan kept its doors open to Chinese tourists. They kept their uh doors open to Chinese students and to being a good international citizen and good neighbor of Taiwan and others. I think that’s what it’s going to continue to do. Uh, as Ronan and Michael both mentioned, uh, Japan is a good international citizen and almost all countries understand it as such. And I really think Prime Minister Lawrence Wong’s comments being Singaporean and really stating that Japan is a good neighbor and the most trusted in the region was the strongest of criticisms against China’s massive disinformation campaign and economic coercion and we should understand that very clearly that countries close to China in the region do not support its behavior do not support its position and they see Japan not as a militarist but a constructive partner in the region a friend and a country that has had a hard past but they’ve worked worked through it and now have strong people-to-people relations and country to country relations. And maybe more actors in the international community perhaps need to step up and say that. Um, we’re going to have to wrap it up there. I want to thank um Ronan Fu, Michael Chen, and also Steven Nagi in Tokyo Tokyo for joining the show. Thank you for watching our show today. Stay safe and see you next time.

China’s pressure campaign against Japan has moved to the UN, with Beijing falsely accusing Tokyo of a “grave violation of international law” and threatening military action under a now obsolete article of the UN charter. In recent days, Beijing has also banned Japanese seafood exports, issued a travel warning, canceled numerous meetings and events, asked Chinese students to reassess their study plans, and increased its military presence near the Japan-administered Senkaku (Diaoyutai) Islands. These actions follow remarks by Japanese PM Takaichi Sanae that an attempted People’s Liberation Army (PLA) invasion of Taiwan could trigger a military response from Tokyo. Despite Beijing’s attempts to recast itself as the victim, its bellicose behavior has only boosted Takaichi’s domestic popularity and provoked strong statements of support from Washington and Taipei. Even Singapore has publicly sided with Japan. Are Beijing’s actions backfiring? And will more of the international community call out China? In this episode, we discuss the latest developments in China’s ongoing diplomatic, economic and gray-zone military campaigns against Japan and Taiwan.

*Recorded on November 24, 2025 at 3:00pm Taiwan Standard Time

Host/Senior Producer: Yin Khvat
Producer: Julien Oeuillet

Our guests:

Stephen Nagy
– Japan Institute for International Affairs Visiting Fellow

Ronan Fu
– Academia Sinica Institute of Political Science Assistant Research Fellow

Michael Chen
– Democratic Progressive Party International Affairs Director

Chapters:
00:00:00 – Japan Pushes Back on China’s Aggression
00:01:59 – Beijing Escalates Anti-Japan Propaganda
00:12:54 – Is China’s Anti-Takaichi Campaign Backfiring?
00:15:38 – US, Taiwan Express Support for Tokyo
00:20:01 – China Expands Gray-Zone Tactics

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