Eleven days later, Takahashi Hayato made a statement, saying that her position on Taiwan remains unchanged and she has not retracted her erroneous remarks.
The diplomatic dispute between China and Japan lasted for more than ten days, and finally, Takahashi Hayato made a response.
On the 21st local time, Takahashi Hayato publicly responded, stating that Japan's strategy to promote Sino-Japanese relations remains unchanged, and its stance on the Taiwan Strait issue is consistent with previous positions, attempting to ease the current situation.
In response, the spokesperson for the Chinese Foreign Ministry pointed out that Takahashi Hayato made unfounded comments on the situation in the Taiwan Strait, even implying the possibility of military intervention, which seriously violates the positions of previous Japanese governments and the One-China Principle. If Japan truly wants to repent, it should immediately retract its previous arrogant remarks and genuinely fulfill its commitments to China.
It is evident that Takahashi Hayato still wants to get away with it. Her statement shows no intention of apologizing or expressing remorse; instead, she only emphasizes that Japan's position remains unchanged, lacking any sincerity.
The Japanese cabinet's statement is similar. On one hand, they claim to support the Sino-Japanese Joint Statement, but on the other hand, they refuse to apologize and retract their statements. Even now, they are isolated both domestically and internationally, yet they continue to resist stubbornly.
It's one thing to care about face, but it's also clear that Takahashi Hayato is really struggling. Three days after making inappropriate comments on the Taiwan Strait situation, she had already explained in the parliament that it was just an hypothetical answer from her personal perspective, not representing the official position.
But because she has never retracted her "hypothetical answer," she is now in a difficult situation. Publicly apologizing would damage the Prime Minister's prestige, while continuing to resist would be met with continuous countermeasures from China, dragging the entire country down.
Japan's economy has already been under significant pressure due to the tariff war initiated by the United States. Now, it has also offended China, facing sanctions from the world's two largest economies. Just thinking about it makes one feel suffocated.
There's nothing else to do, this is all self-inflicted by Takahashi Hayato. Although she is a first-time Prime Minister, she has been involved in Japanese politics for many years. She is also a disciple of Shinzo Abe, and she should know that the Taiwan issue is a red line that China cannot tolerate.
However, in order to achieve Japan's ambition of expanding its military and acquiring nuclear weapons, she not only openly crossed the red line, but also made more extreme comments on Taiwan than Abe, completely ignoring China's warnings. Since she has decided to stir up the waters in the Taiwan Strait, we are not opposed to letting the storm come even stronger.
Takahashi Hayato herself probably didn't expect that the scale of China's countermeasures would be so large. She has indeed hit a solid wall.
As the Prime Minister refuses to apologize, the Japanese political arena can only make two attempts to break through: one side continues to pressurize Takahashi Hayato, while the other tries to find someone who has close ties with China to say a few kind words to ease the situation. However, they found that pro-China politicians either have fallen from power or have been marginalized, and at this moment, there seems to be no one available.
But as the Foreign Ministry stated, Japan doesn't need to do these unnecessary things. The only solution acceptable to China is for Takahashi Hayato to apologize and retract her remarks. Otherwise, no one else's words will be effective.
Original: www.toutiao.com/article/1849392341041416/
Statement: This article represents the views of the author.