00:00There is only one China in the world and Taiwan is part of China.
00:12Sanai Takaichi, who became Japan's first female Prime Minister last month
00:16and met China's President Xi Jinping just two weeks ago,
00:20is now facing her first major international crisis.
00:24The confrontation began when she told Japan's parliament on November 7th
00:30that a Chinese attack on Taiwan, which lies just 60 miles from Japanese territory,
00:35would be seen as a situation threatening Japan's survival
00:39and could trigger a military response from Tokyo.
00:43Her remarks marked a sharp shift from the cautious tone of previous Japanese leaders,
00:48who avoided linking Taiwan directly to Japan's defence policy.
00:51While Washington continues its policy of strategic ambiguity on Taiwan,
00:56Takaichi's statement was a rare open declaration that immediately caught Beijing's attention.
01:03The reaction from China was swift and fierce.
01:07Shui Jian, the Chinese Consul General in Osaka, posted on X,
01:12The dirty neck that sticks itself in must be cut off.
01:16The post was later deleted, but not before sparking outrage in Tokyo and Taipei.
01:21Japan's foreign ministry called the comments extremely inappropriate,
01:25while Taiwan's government described them as threatening.
01:29Beijing, however, defended its diplomat, accusing Japan of
01:33grossly interfering in China's internal affairs.
01:37A spokesperson for China's foreign ministry said Shui's remarks were a
01:42response to Takaichi's erroneous and dangerous comments,
01:46reinforcing Beijing's stance that Taiwan is a domestic issue.
01:51The incident has revived memories of China's Wolf Warrior diplomacy,
01:56a combative communication style used by Chinese officials in the early 2020s
02:01to strike back at critics online.
02:04While Beijing had softened that approach in recent years, the tone has now returned.
02:10China's People's Daily condemned Takaichi for
02:13recklessly shooting her mouth off, warning that
02:16no one should harbour any illusion that they can cross the line on the Taiwan issue
02:20without paying a price.
02:22Another post from a CCTV-affiliated account mocked the Japanese leader, asking,
02:28Has her head been kicked by a donkey?
02:30Even more alarming was a post by Hu Xijin,
02:33the former editor-in-chief of the Global Times, who wrote,
02:38China's battle blade for beheading invaders has been sharpened to a very keen edge.
02:43If Japanese militarism wishes to come to the Taiwan Strait
02:47to sacrifice themselves on our blades, we will fulfil them.
02:52Faced with mounting backlash, Takaichi clarified that her remarks were hypothetical
02:58and said she would avoid making similar comments in parliament again.
03:02Still, her challenge remains, balancing Japan's economic reliance on China
03:07with rising regional security concerns.
03:11China remains Japan's largest trading partner,
03:14even as Tokyo deepens defence cooperation with the United States and other regional allies.
03:20Like her mentor, the late Shinzo Abe, Takaichi is known for her conservative and hawkish stance,
03:27supporting stronger defence spending and a firm position against Beijing's military expansion.
03:33Their uneasy relationship was already evident at the APEC summit in late October,
03:38when Takaichi and Ji agreed to pursue a strategic, mutually beneficial relationship.
03:45Yet, she also raised concerns over Chinese military activity in the East China Sea,
03:50including around disputed islands.
03:54Also, this year marked the 80th anniversary of the end of World War II,
03:58and Beijing has used the occasion to revisit Japan's wartime actions,
04:03including the Nanjing Massacre, where more than 200,000 civilians were killed.
04:09Chinese officials accused Japan of whitewashing history,
04:13and even released several war films depicting Japanese atrocities.
04:17Ahead of the commemorations, Japan's embassy in Beijing warned citizens to avoid speaking
04:23Japanese loudly in public amid rising anti-Japanese sentiment.
04:28This complex past also ties into Taiwan's story.
04:32Once a Japanese colony, Taiwan was handed over to China after Japan's defeat in 1945.
04:39The Chinese Communist Party now claims the island as its own, even though it has never governed it.
04:45In response to Takaichi's remarks, Chen Binhua, spokesperson for China's Taiwan Affairs Office said,
04:53Japan is responsible for crimes it committed against the Chinese people over the Taiwan issue in history.
04:59It committed innumerable atrocities in the 50 years it colonized and enslaved Taiwan.
05:04Eighty years ago, we defeated the Japanese aggressors, restored Taiwan to China,
05:11and ended Japan's occupation and exploitation of the island.
05:15There is only one China in the world, and Taiwan is part of China.
05:19The erroneous remarks on Taiwan made by the Japanese leader at the Diet seriously violate the
05:24one-China principle and is a blatant interference in China's internal affairs.
05:29We strongly deplore and firmly oppose it.
05:32The Ministry of Foreign Affairs has lodged stern representations and strong protest with Japan.
05:38Asia's two largest powers find themselves once again on a collision course,
05:43this time over an island at the center of one of the world's most dangerous geopolitical flashpoints.
06:02America has been impacted but also within the underground air now and Authority's
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