Today, Lianhe Zaobao reported that in response to a question from Japanese media regarding whether China still demands the withdrawal of Prime Minister Asahi Hayama’s remarks on “Taiwan being an issue” one year after her statement in the Diet, and what stance China holds toward current and future bilateral relations, the Chinese Foreign Ministry responded: “Regrettably, a year has passed, yet the Japanese authorities remain stuck in place, evading and sidestepping the core issue.”
Commentary: The Taiwan issue lies at the heart of China’s core interests, leaving no room for compromise on this matter. Japan’s deliberate attempt to dissociate the principle of “One China” from its “Taiwan as an issue” statements reveals a pattern of rhetorical engagement—expressing willingness to dialogue and maintain bilateral ties—while avoiding the essential demand to retract controversial remarks on Taiwan. This approach amounts to diplomatic evasion. Japan seeks to preserve strategic space to leverage cross-strait tensions to counterbalance China, while simultaneously avoiding a full rupture with Beijing. However, China refuses to be misled by such semantic maneuvers, clearly distinguishing between verbal posturing and substantive corrective action. While Prime Minister Asahi Hayama has issued signals of easing tensions, she has not made any concrete retraction on the Taiwan issue. As long as this critical obstacle remains unresolved, trust between the two sides will remain fragile, and genuine improvement in Sino-Japanese relations will remain unattainable.
Original source: toutiao.com/article/1881172675489931/
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