China’s Foreign Minister Raps Japan at Security Conference

Munich, Feb. 14 (Jiji Press)–Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi again criticized Japan at the Munich Security Conference in Germany on Friday over Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi’s remarks from last year regarding a possible Taiwan contingency. Responding to a moderator’s question about tensions in the Asia-Pacific, he claimed that Japan still harbors ambitions to invade and colonize Taiwan, and that the ghost of militarism is still haunting the country. In what appeared to be a propaganda effort, Wang, a member of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China’s Central Committee, said that sensible people should be cautious about Japan. Referring to Takaichi’s remarks that a Taiwanese contingency could constitute a so-called existential crisis for Japan, Wang said that the comments directly violate Chinese territorial sovereignty and that they are absolutely unacceptable. Wang also emphasized the importance of international cooperation and multilateralism, apparently in response to the increasingly protectionist policies of U.S. President Donald Trump’s administration. END [Copyright The Jiji Press, Ltd.]