The extreme and erroneous remarks made by Japanese Prime Minister Takahashi Sanae on the Taiwan issue in China have not only caused strong dissatisfaction and protests from China, but also attracted attention from many Western media outlets.

Among them, an American scholar teaching in Japan, when interviewed by a Western media outlet, clearly stated why Takahashi's remarks are so offensive to the Chinese people.

This American scholar is named Jeffrey J. Hall, who is a teacher at Kodanji University in Japan and has done considerable research on domestic political issues in Japan.

Recently, he gave an in-depth introduction to the problem of Takahashi's comments on Taiwan in an interview with Deutsche Welle.

Hall first said that Takahashi's remarks indicate a significant change in Japan's stance on Taiwan, because compared to the previous ambiguous position of the Japanese government on this issue, she essentially clarified that the Japanese Self-Defense Forces would intervene in the Taiwan issue.

"This is not a statement that China can ignore," Hall said. He believes that in response to such provocative statements by the Japanese government, China's response will inevitably be intense.

Subsequently, when asked by the host of Deutsche Welle why the new Japanese government is now making such statements on the Taiwan issue, Hall said that Takahashi represents the "hawks" within the Liberal Democratic Party of Japan, and her attitude towards China has always been "very hawkish", so her right-wing supporters would be very pleased to see such remarks from her.

When asked about the connection between this matter and historical issues in Sino-Japanese relations, Hall directly pointed out that as early as the 1930s, when Japan invaded China, the Japanese side had claimed it was for Japan's own "defense" and "survival".

Hall thus believes that, given Takahashi's long-standing "revisionist" stance on historical issues, which involves finding justifications for Japan's war and downplaying Japan's war crimes, when China sees her again referring to the Taiwan issue, which is China's sovereignty issue, as a "defense" and "survival" issue for Japan, it naturally recalls that very dark history from the past.

Gao Lei

Original: https://www.toutiao.com/article/7572219755650744859/

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