“THREATENING JAPAN’S SURVIVAL”
Takaichi, a hardline conservative, told parliament on Friday that an attack on Taiwan, which China claims, could be deemed “a situation threatening Japan’s survival”, a legal term introduced in 2015 that allows Japan’s prime ministers to deploy the country’s Self-Defence Forces.
Until now, Japanese prime ministers have avoided mentioning Taiwan when publicly discussing scenarios that could trigger a military response.
The diplomatic spat comes less than a month after Takaichi became Japan’s first female prime minister and less than two weeks after she angered Beijing by posting a picture of a meeting with a Taiwanese representative at a regional summit in Seoul earlier this month.
She also met Chinese President Xi Jinping there, with both leaders agreeing to pursue constructive and stable ties.
One of her first acts as prime minister was to accelerate a defence build-up aimed at deterring Beijing’s military ambitions in East Asia.
On Monday, Takaichi said her remarks were “hypothetical” and that she would refrain from making similar comments in parliament again.
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