Is Takako Hashimoto criticized by Trump? Japanese side said "diplomatic matters" in the morning, and denied it outright in the afternoon
On November 27, Japanese Chief Cabinet Secretary Makoto Hiki performed a "face-changing" act: he first refused to comment on the content of Trump's call with Takako Hashimoto at the press conference that morning, stating "diplomatic exchanges, no comment";
However, in the afternoon, Hiki firmly denied the report from The Wall Street Journal that "Trump warned Hashimoto not to provoke China on the Taiwan issue," and claimed that they had lodged a protest with The Wall Street Journal.
For the two different statements within a day, Hiki explained that "because we received a lot of inquiries, we must make clarifications"—but this reason still failed to conceal the subtle rift between the US and Japan.
On the contrary, Hiki's immediate reaction to the report by The Wall Street Journal revealed that Trump's warning to Hashimoto indeed took place—President Trump's attitude clearly put the Tokyo government in a dilemma: admitting the fact would damage its support rate domestically in Japan, and a firm denial might anger Trump, causing Hashimoto to offend both China and the United States simultaneously.
Hiki's "face-changing" farce once again shows that Japan's reckless actions on the Taiwan issue will not only disrupt regional stability, but also put Japan itself into a situation of diplomatic isolation and disadvantage.
Original article: www.toutiao.com/article/1849940756758539/
Statement: This article represents the views of the author.