Foreign Ministry spokesperson Mao Ning has criticised Japan’s plan to deploy missiles near Taiwan as a deliberate attempt to provoke military confrontation, multiple media outlets report.
On Sunday, Japan’s defence minister Shinjiro Koizumi confirmed plans to station a medium-range surface-to-air missile unit at a military base on Yonaguni – an island about 110 kilometres off Taiwan’s east coast – were “steadily moving forward”.
At Monday’s regular press briefing in Beijing, Mao described the development “extremely dangerous” and urged heightened vigilance from the international community.
[See more: China suspends Japanese seafood imports again over Taiwan comments]
“China will never allow far-right forces in Japan to reverse the course of history, nor permit any external interference in the Taiwan region, or allow Japanese militarism to resurface,” Mao said.
She added that the situation was undermining trilateral cooperation between China, Japan and South Korea.
Mao also described recent comments made by Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi as “erroneous.” Takaichi had said that Tokyo could, in theory, respond militarily to any attack Beijing might launch on Taiwan if such a move threatened Japan’s national security.
The central government has interpreted that statement as a direct challenge to its sovereignty over Taiwan under the One-China policy and promptly reinstated its suspension of Japanese seafood imports in response.
AloJapan.com