Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi on Saturday called for vigilance against recent dangerous trends in Japan, warning that erroneous remarks by Japanese leadership on the Taiwan question directly challenge China’s sovereignty and the post-war international order.
Asia remains peaceful despite challenges
Wang, who is also a member of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China Central Committee, was speaking at the “China in the World” session during the 62nd Munich Security Conference, where he delivered a speech and took questions.
Responding to a question about China’s role in the supposed re-escalation of tensions in the Asia-Pacific, Wang said he does not agree that the region is becoming increasingly tense.
He pointed out that, looking around the world, only Asia maintains overall peace. Even recent local conflicts, such as those on the Cambodia-Thailand border, were quickly resolved through the efforts of all parties, with China playing a constructive part.
Wang described China as a pillar of peace in Asia and pledged that the country would continue to act as a significant force for global and regional stability.
Sharp criticism of Japanese statements
However, he cautioned that the Asia-Pacific is not free of challenges and urged particular vigilance against recent dangerous trends emerging in Japan.
Wang highlighted that the current Japanese prime minister has publicly stated that any contingency in the Taiwan Strait would constitute a so-called “survival-threatening situation” for Japan, allowing it to exercise collective self-defence.
He described this as the first such outrageous statement by a Japanese prime minister in the 80 years since the war. Wang stressed that these remarks directly challenge China’s national sovereignty, the post-war international order under which Taiwan was returned to China, and the political commitments Japan made to China.
China will certainly not accept this position, Wang said, adding that the 1.4 billion Chinese people will not accept it either.
Historical contrast with Europe
Speaking in Germany, Wang drew a comparison between Japan’s and Europe’s treatment of wartime history.
He noted that Germany has thoroughly confronted and liquidated fascism, enacting laws that ban the promotion of Nazism. In contrast, Japan continues to enshrine Class-A war criminals at a shrine, where politicians frequently pay homage and refer to them as “heroic souls.”
Such a practice, Wang said, would be unthinkable in Europe and lies at the root of ongoing problems.
He argued that the Japanese leadership’s erroneous remarks on Taiwan reveal that ambitions to invade and colonise Taiwan have not faded, and the ghost of militarism still lingers.
Wang recalled that Japan had used the pretext of a “survival-threatening situation” to launch aggression against China and attack Pearl Harbor in the past.
The lessons of history remain close and must be carefully examined, he said. If Japan refuses to reflect and repent, it risks repeating the same mistakes.
He urged the Japanese people not to be misled or coerced by far-right forces and extreme ideologies again, and called on all peace-loving countries to send a clear warning: should Japan attempt to retrace its old path, it will bring about its own destruction, and any renewed gamble would only lead to faster defeat and harsher consequences.
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