Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga angers China after he describes Taiwan as a country
- Suga prompts immediate criticism from Beijing after making the comment during a parliamentary debate about Covid-19 controls
- Mainland China has never renounced the use of force to regain control over Taiwan and Tokyo’s recent shows of support for the island have already hit relations
Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga referred to Taiwan as a country on Thursday immediately drawing fire from mainland China.
In his first one-on-one parliamentary debate with opposition leaders Wednesday, Suga, naming Australia, New Zealand and Taiwan, said “such three countries have been imposing strong restrictions on privacy rights” to curb the novel coronavirus outbreak.
Self-governed Taiwan is usually called a “region” in Japan, while the Chinese government says the island is an “inalienable part” of its territory.
Tokyo and Beijing have already been at odds over several issues, including a territorial dispute in the East China Sea and the crackdown on Hong Kong.
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“China expresses strong dissatisfaction with Japan’s erroneous remarks and has lodged a solemn protest against Japan,” foreign ministry spokesman Wang Wenbin told reporters in Beijing on Thursday.
“There is only one China in the world,” Wang said, urging Japan to become more cautious in its words and deeds concerning Taiwan affairs and to avoid sending wrong signals to the island’s independence forces.
Recently, Suga’s government has been strengthening its commitment to Taiwan, irritating the Chinese leadership, which has never renounced the use of force to reunify the island with the mainland.
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Following the summit, the Chinese Foreign Ministry summoned a senior official of the Japanese embassy in Beijing to lodge a protest.
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Taiwan and mainland China have been separately governed since they split in 1949 following the civil war. Their relationship has deteriorated since independence-leaning Tsai Ing-wen became Taiwanese president in 2016.
While Tokyo severed diplomatic ties with Taipei and established them with Beijing in 1972, Taiwan and Japan have continued to maintain relations primarily through economic cooperation by the private sector.
