Former Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe on Wednesday warned that any Chinese military action against Taiwan would be an economic suicide for Beijing, adding the only option left for Xi Jinping's regime is to maintain peaceful ties with Taipei. The former premier also said that Japan and the US will not be mute spectators if their ally Taiwan is subjected to a military attack by China.
“A military adventure would be the path to economic suicide, we must keep reiterating that peaceful ties between China and Taiwan are the only option,” Shinzo Abe said.
Abe made these remarks while delivering a video speech at the Institute for National Policy Research, a think-tank in Taiwan. He also said that the increasing dominance of China is expected to make scenarios more complex for Japan and Taiwan.
Abe further added that any threat to Taiwan is a threat to Japan as well and a crisis for Japan will lead to their ally the US being a part of the whole scene. He indicated that Chinese President Xi Jinping should not misinterpret the situation and risk an invasion on Taiwan would bring on them.
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“Any armed invasion of Taiwan would present a serious threat to Japan, Taiwan crisis would be a Japan crisis and therefore a crisis for the Japan-US alliance,” the former premier said.
“People in Beijing, especially President Xi Jinping, should never have a misunderstanding in recognising this,” he added.
Reacting sharply to the comments made by Abe, Chinese Assistant Foreign Minister Hua Chunying termed the former Japanese premier's remarks as ‘erroneous’ and said that such misguiding speeches are a violation of basic norms of relations between China and Japan.
China’s foreign ministry has also summoned Japan’s ambassador, Hideo Tarumi, in Beijing for an “emergency meeting” on Wednesday evening after Shinzo Abe’s speech, according to a statement from China’s foreign ministry.
Hua also termed Abe’s comments as an open challenge to China.
“Openly challenged China’s sovereignty and gave brazen support to Taiwan independence forces” he said referring to Shinzo’s statements.
However, Japan’s chief cabinet secretary Hirokazu Matsuno said Japan disagreed with China’s action as the Japanese government was not in a position to comment on remarks made by people, not in the government, according to a report by Aljazeera.
“Ambassador Tarumi said it is necessary for China to understand there are people in Japan who have such opinions and Japan cannot accept China’s one-sided views on such matters,” Matsuno said.
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Shinzo Abe had stepped down from his position last year due to ill health and still continues to be a great influence within the party.
