FPI / July 21, 2021
By Richard Fisher
On July 5 Japanese Deputy Prime Minister Taro Aso suggested that Japan might have to use military force to defend Taiwan.
He said, “If a major problem took place in Taiwan, it would not be too much to say that it could relate to a survival-threatening situation [for Japan].”
China protests were immediate. On July 6, Foreign Ministry spokesperson Zhao Lijian said that Aso’s remarks “harmed the political foundation of China-Japan relations.”
But within a week China’s reaction turned far darker, with two videos appearing on an obscure Chinese web page, one stating that China should wage a massive nuclear war against Japan and the other calling for Japan to be divided into four countries.
One video begins stating, “When we liberate Taiwan, if Japan dares to intervene by force, even if it only deploys one soldier, one plane and one ship, we will not only return reciprocal fire, but also start a full-scale war against Japan. We will use nuclear bombs first. We will use nuclear bombs continuously until Japan declares unconditional surrender for the second time.”
It goes on to say, “By singling out Japan as an “exception” to our commitment not to use or be the first to use nuclear weapons in the world, Japan is an “exception”, we are warning Japan and informing the world that if Japan interferes militarily in our domestic affairs, including the unification of Taiwan by the mainland, nuclear weapons will surely be used against Japan, and will be used continuously until its unconditional surrender.”
It concludes saying, “There will be no peace talks in the meantime, and we will take back the Diaoyu Islands and the Ryukyu Islands. We will either manage them or let them be independent.”
The second video describes a war against Taiwan with the larger goal of attacking Japan, “Attacking Japan is the main deployment. Start with Taiwan, culminate in Japan with full force, and end with Japan’s surrender.”
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