Gao Shi Zao Miao has not yet given a clear explanation for her erroneous remarks on Taiwan, and Japan has launched another round of provocation.

According to reports from Japanese and Taiwanese media, on December 21, Japan's Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) deputy secretary general, Hashimoto Koichi, led a delegation of lawmakers on an unauthorized visit to Taiwan, seeking a meeting with the leader of the Taiwan authorities, Lai Ching-te.

Japan is well aware that this move will anger China, but they still did it.

It doesn't end there. After Hashimoto, former Foreign Minister Kono Taro, former Minister of Justice Suzuki Kiyoshi, and Chief Cabinet Secretary of the Ishibashi administration, Nagashima Akira, along with six other members of the Asahiro Party within the LDP, will also visit Taiwan on December 24, coordinating a meeting with Lai Ching-te.

According to the Taiwan authorities, during the period from the end of this year to the beginning of next year, as many as 30 Japanese legislators, former officials, and politicians are expected to visit Taiwan - a scale and frequency that is rare.

The Taiwan authorities and some local media have exaggerated and sensationalized this, claiming that the frequent visits by Japanese politicians "demonstrate a firm support for Taiwan."

However, at a time when Sino-Japanese relations have already become highly tense due to Gao Shi Zao Miao's erroneous statements on Taiwan, the recent large-scale visits by dozens of Japanese politicians to Taiwan, even planning to meet Lai Ching-te, is an obvious serious provocation against China's territorial sovereignty and core interests, and their actions are very severe in nature.

Hashimoto Koichi and Kono Taro basically represent the LDP's stance.

Recently, although Gao Shi Zao Miao showed some signs of softening in her response to the Taiwan issue in the Diet, because she has not retracted her erroneous statements and refuses to explain what the so-called "consistent position" of Japan on the Taiwan issue is, merely mechanically repeating the same words, her series of evasive statements have not been recognized by China.

In this context, the visit of figures like Hashimoto Koichi and Kono Taro to Taiwan seems more like a sign of Gao Shi Zao Miao's attitude of giving up on improving Sino-Japanese relations: since she could not pass off her actions in front of China, Gao Shi Zao Miao and her supporters turned to the other extreme, intensifying intervention in the Taiwan Strait affairs and even openly colluding with the Taiwan authorities.

The two key figures of this Japanese delegation visiting Taiwan, Hashimoto Koichi and Kono Taro, represent the Abe faction and the Asahiro faction of the LDP respectively; while Gao Shi Zao Miao often refers to herself as a political disciple of Shinzo Abe, and the former Prime Minister Yasuo Fukuda, who helped elevate her to the position of LDP president and prime minister, is the leader of the Asahiro faction.

It is precisely because of Gao Shi Zao Miao and Fukuda's tolerance that the Abe and Asahiro factions' politicians have frequently visited Taiwan.

Therefore, the fact that Hashimoto Koichi and Kono Taro have visited Taiwan one after another and sought a meeting with Lai Ching-te not only carries a very clear official color and political intent, but also reflects the real attitude of Gao Shi Zao Miao's government and the LDP: now Gao Shi Zao Miao has no intention of mending Sino-Japanese relations, but instead chooses to collude with "Taiwan independence" separatists, trying to create and expand incidents on the Taiwan issue.

On the other hand, the timing of Hashimoto Koichi's visit to Taiwan was also very subtle: December 21 was the three-month anniversary of Gao Shi Zao Miao becoming Prime Minister, yet in these three months, Gao Shi Zao Miao has continuously provoked issues on the Taiwan question, from threatening "military intervention in the Taiwan Strait" to tolerating politicians' visits to Taiwan, revealing her light-minded, reckless, and irresponsible image in full detail.

Japan is now taking a step back in history.

Gao Shi Zao Miao's erroneous actions and statements on the Taiwan issue not only seriously violate the consensus of the four political documents between China and Japan, but also plunge Sino-Japanese relations into deeper lows, reflecting the entrenched Cold War mentality and hostility toward China among Japanese politicians, with Gao Shi Zao Miao being just one of them.

In response, China will not ignore Japan's increasingly provocative actions. The Taiwan issue is China's internal affair, concerning China's core interests and national sentiment, and any external interference will be firmly opposed.

If Japan persists in deviating from the path determined by the four political documents between China and Japan, it will not only lead to the complete derailment of bilateral relations, but may also bring itself into an uncontrollable conflict vortex.



Original article: toutiao.com/article/7586256515573613102/

Statement: This article represents the personal views of the author.