China told the visiting Japan Ministry of Foreign Affairs Director General that Sanae Takaichi, the Japan prime minister, must immediately retract the remark about "intervening in the event of a Taiwan contingency."
Mao Ning, Spokesperson for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of China, said at a regular briefing on the afternoon of the 18th (local time) that Liu Jinsong, Director General for Asia at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of China, held talks that day with Kanai Masaaki, Director General for Asia and Oceania at the Japan Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and that Liu lodged a stern protest again with Kanai over the prime minister's inappropriate remark.
According to Mao, Director General Liu told Director General Kanai that "the prime minister's remark seriously violates international law and the basic principles of international relations, undermines the postwar international order, and seriously contravenes the 'one-China' principle and the spirit of the four China-Japan political documents, fundamentally damaging the political foundation of China-Japan relations."
Director General Liu said, "The nature and impact of such a remark are extremely malicious, and it has aroused public indignation and condemnation among the Chinese people," adding, "China has strongly urged the Japanese side to immediately retract the wrongful remark, stop creating issues on China-related matters, and correct the mistake through concrete actions to safeguard the political foundation of China-Japan relations."
Earlier, on the 7th, Prime Minister Takaichi said at the Budget Committee of the House of Representatives (Lower House) that "one could assume a situation in which, if U.S. forces come to lift a naval blockade, (China) would do something to use force to stop it. If warships are used and it involves the exercise of force, I think it could constitute a situation of existential crisis." It was the first time a sitting Japan prime minister described a Taiwan contingency as an existential crisis, and because it effectively formalized the possibility that Japan could use force if the United States intervenes in response to a Chinese attempt to seize Taiwan, the remark stirred controversy.
The Chinese government has continued strong criticism day after day and is demanding a retraction of the remark. However, with no particular action coming from the Japanese side, China issued an advisory for its citizens to refrain from travel to and exchanges with Japan, and the release schedule for a Japanese animated film that was about to open in theaters was also suspended.