Takaichi Declines to Withdraw Remark over Taiwan Contingency

Tokyo, Nov. 10 (Jiji Press)–Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi on Monday declined to withdraw her remark made last week over a so-called survival-threatening situation regarding a potential contingency over Taiwan. “I made the remark in line with the government’s conventional position, so I will not retract it,” she told a meeting of the Budget Committee of the House of Representatives, the lower chamber of the Diet, the country’s parliament, responding to a question from Hiroshi Ogushi of the leading opposition Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan. At a Lower House Budget Committee meeting Friday, Takaichi said that a contingency over Taiwan could constitute a survival-threatening situation, in which Japan can exercise its right to collective self-defense. A survival-threatening situation refers to a situation in which an armed attack against a foreign country that has a close relationship with Japan occurs, threatening Japan’s survival and posing a clear danger of fundamentally overturning people’s right to life, liberty and pursuit of happiness. Ogushi urged Takaichi, who took office last month, to withdraw her remark in question, noting that past prime ministers avoided making such a comment. In response, Takaichi said, “I made the remark assuming the worst-case scenario,” adding, “I will make a decision (on whether a Taiwan crisis would constitute a survival-threatening situation) by comprehensively taking into account specific circumstances once an event happens.” Meanwhile, Takaichi said she will “refrain from making comments assuming specific cases going forward.” Ogushi also asked Takaichi to show the government’s unified view over the matter, but the prime minister rejected the request. The CDP lawmaker criticized Takaichi’s choice of Kei Sato, a lawmaker in the House of Councillors, the upper chamber, as deputy chief cabinet secretary as he was involved in the high-profile “slush funds” scandal at the ruling Liberal Democratic Party and has not faced an election since the political funds issue came to light. The prime minister reiterated that she wants the appointment to gain understanding. Over her plan to review the government’s policy of pursuing a single fiscal year target for turning around Japan’s primary budget balance, Takaichi said she will issue related instructions in January 2026 during work to compile new guidelines on the government’s economic and fiscal policy management. She was responding to the CDP’s Sumio Mabuchi. Takaichi responded positively to a request from CDP tax policy chief Kazuhiko Shigetoku for ruling-opposition discussions on reducing the consumption tax rate to zero for food. “The issue should be discussed among as many parties as possible,” she said. The prime minister mentioned a potentially controversial remark made by Hitoshi Kikawada, minister for issues related to the four Russian-held northwestern Pacific islands claimed by Japan, when he visited Cape Nosappu in the northernmost Japan prefecture of Hokkaido on Saturday to inspect the islands, known collectively in Japan as the Northern Territories. Kikawada said that “(Cape Nosappu) is closest” to a foreign country, a remark that could possibly be taken to mean that the islands belong to a country other than Japan. “I issued a warning to him over the phone as I thought the remark could cause misunderstandings,” Takaichi said, answering a question from CDP lawmaker Kureha Otsuki. The islands were seized by the former Soviet Union from Japan at the end of World War II and have long been claimed by Japan. The territorial issue has prevented Tokyo and Moscow from concluding a peace treaty to formally end their wartime hostilities. END [Copyright The Jiji Press, Ltd.]