Tokyo, Nov. 8 (Jiji Press)–Hopes for an early Japan-China summit are fading, a year after Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi’s parliamentary remarks regarding a possible contingency over Taiwan angered Beijing. While Tokyo has reiterated that it will stick to the position it has maintained since the normalization of diplomatic relations between the two nations in 1972 and has waited for the situation to cool down, China has demanded a withdrawal of Takaichi’s remarks. This has led to growing pessimism over the prospects for a bilateral summit on the sidelines of an international meeting to be hosted by China from Nov. 18. Asked by reporters about her remarks on Taiwan, Takaichi on Friday repeated the same explanation she had given so far: “China is an important neighbor. We’ll promote strategic and mutually beneficial ties, and build a constructive and stable relationship.” At a meeting of the Budget Committee of the House of Representatives, the lower chamber of Japan’s parliament, on Nov. 7, 2025, Takaichi said that a Taiwan contingency “could constitute” a so-called survival-threatening situation for Japan, in which the country can exercise its right to collective self-defense. As the remarks apparently went beyond the line taken by previous Japanese prime ministers, the administration of Chinese President Xi Jinping, which regards Taiwan as being at the core of its interests, strongly protested them, increasing its pressure on Japan through rare earth export restrictions and calls on Chinese nationals not to visit Japan. At a Budget Committee session held shortly after her remarks, Takaichi said that she will “refrain from making comments on specific cases from now on.” At a press conference on Friday, Japanese Chief Cabinet Secretary Minoru Kihara said that Japan’s stance on Taiwan “has not changed at all,” citing the 1972 Japan-China communique, in which Japan stated that it fully understands and respects China’s position regarding Taiwan. Conservatives who support Takaichi are wary of Beijing. The government side is likely worried that retracting her remarks may disappoint Takaichi’s supporters. Meanwhile, the Chinese side has dug its heels over the remarks. During his visit to China in September, former Japanese Foreign Minister Takeshi Iwaya proposed to Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi, a member of the Chinese Communist Party’s Political Bureau, that reaffirming the Japan-China communique be treated as a de facto withdrawal of Takaichi’s remarks. Wang, however, reiterated his demands for a retraction, saying that the Japanese prime minister should be the one to resolve the issue. Takaichi will visit China to attend a summit of leaders of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation forum in Shenzhen, Guangdong Province, Nov. 18-19. The meeting’s chair usually holds talks with leaders of other nations. On the sidelines of the 2014 APEC summit held in Beijing, Xi met with then Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe amid frictions between the two Asian nations, including one involving Abe paying his respects at Yasukuni Shrine in Tokyo, viewed by China to be a symbol of Japan’s past militarism as it honors Class-A war criminals along with the war dead. On the latest episode in soured bilateral ties, a high-ranking Japanese government official said, “China has maintained a hard-line stance.” “There’ll be no (Japan-China) summit” on the occasion of the upcoming APEC meeting, a senior Japanese Foreign Ministry official said. “I don’t think a summit is likely during the Takaichi administration.” END [Copyright The Jiji Press, Ltd.]
