Former Japanese Prime Minister (PM) Shinzo Abe once again urged China not to provoke regional disharmony or seek territorial expansion.
Speaking virtually at a security forum on Tuesday, Abe said: “We must urge it [Beijing] not to pursue territorial expansion and restrain from provoking, often bullying, its neighbours because it should harm its own interests.” “An adventure in military affairs, if pursued by such a huge economy like China’s, could be suicidal, to say the least,” the former PM added.
Abe also offered his support for Taiwan’s application to the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP), a regional trade pact, as well as the World Health Organisation (WHO). “The United States (US), Japan and other like-minded countries should work hard to bring Taiwan to international organisations of universal relevance. WHO comes on top of the list,” Abe stressed.
Taiwan has long been vying for representation at the WHO but China has repeatedly thwarted the move based on the argument that there is only one China and therefore Taiwan cannot be represented separately. China considers Taiwan an integral part of its territory under its ‘One China’ policy. Similarly, the self-governing island has also submitted its official application to join the CPTPP, only to be blocked by China once more.
Abe also said that Japan, the US, and Taiwan must spare no effort in “building our capabilities in all domains—from the undersea, sea surface, air space to the cyber and outer space” to combat regional security threats. “Lest we forget, weakness invites provocations,” he noted. He also called for more international players to help deal with those threats.
In fact, Abe has recently made several comments, many of them controversial, on China and Taiwan. While speaking at a virtual event organised by the Institute for National Policy Research, a Taiwanese think tank, earlier this month, the ex-PM warned that an armed invasion of Taiwan would pose a grave danger to Japan and that Japan and the US could not simply stand by if China attacks Taiwan. “A Taiwan emergency is a Japanese emergency, and therefore an emergency for the Japan-US alliance. People in Beijing, President Xi, in particular, should never have a misunderstanding in recognising this,” he said.
The remarks instantly prompted China’ foreign ministry to summon Japan’s ambassador to Beijing, Hideo Tarumi, for an “emergency meeting.” Foreign Ministry spokesperson Hua Chunying “resolutely” opposed Abe’s “erroneous” remarks, which she said, “gave brazen support to Taiwan independence forces.” She added that Japan had “no right” to make “irresponsible” remarks on the Taiwan issue.
Tokyo, however, has said that it is not in a position to comment on remarks made by people who are not part of the government. Ambassador Tarumi stressed that it is “necessary for China to understand” that “there are people in Japan who have such opinions and Japan cannot accept China’s one-sided views on such matters.”