Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi has declared that Japan’s strategic alliance with the United States would fall apart if Tokyo turns its back on the Taiwan conflict. At the same time, however, she distanced herself from her previous comments that hinted at a possible military intervention. TASR informs about it according to the reports of the Reuters and AFP agencies.
- Prime Minister Takaičiová warned against the collapse of the alliance with the USA.
- She distanced herself from the call for possible military intervention.
- Japan’s relations with China have been strained since November.
Takaichi made her latest comments on a national television show Monday night, where she was criticized by an opposition party leader for stoking tensions with Beijing with her previous comments.
Strained relations with China
Japan has had significantly strained relations with China since November, when Japan’s prime minister said a possible Chinese attack on Taiwan could trigger a military response from Tokyo. She argued that such intervention by Beijing could pose a threat to Japan’s existence.
China, which considers Taiwan a breakaway territory, responded by blocking exports of goods with potential military uses to Japan, prompting fears in Tokyo that Beijing could limit supplies of rare earths.
Evacuation operation in Taiwan
“I want to make it very clear that this is not about Japan taking military action if China and the United States enter into a conflict (over Taiwan),” the Japanese prime minister said on live television, referring to her remarks in November.
However, she also pointed out in the interview that in the event of a conflict, Japan and the United States could jointly conduct an evacuation operation to save Japanese and American citizens.
“If something serious happened there, we would have to save Japanese and American citizens in Taiwan. In such a situation, joint action could take place. And if American forces were attacked and Japan did nothing and simply retreated, the Japanese-American alliance would fall apart,” added the Japanese leader. She added that Tokyo would act exclusively within the law.
Legal framework and collective self-defense
Although Japan’s constitution prohibits direct military action, it allows the country to exercise the right of collective self-defense, or to defend the United States or another allied country under attack, in cases where Japan faces a “threat to its existence.”
