Japan will face 'crushing defeat' if it intervenes in Taiwan: China

Japan will suffer a “crushing defeat” by the Chinese military if it tries to use force to intervene over Taiwan, China’s defence ministry said on Friday, ramping up the rhetoric over Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi’s remarks about the island.

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Tokyo on Friday summoned Beijing’s Ambassador to Japan to protest against a top Chinese diplomat’s online post about Takaichi, continuing a tit-for-tat spat that has run for a week.

Takaichi sparked a diplomatic row with Beijing with comments in parliament last week that a Chinese attack on Taiwan could amount to a “survival-threatening situation” and trigger a military response from Tokyo.

Last Saturday, China’s Consul General in Osaka, Xue Jian, shared a news article about Takaichi's remarks about Taiwan on X and commented “the dirty neck that sticks itself in must be cut off” in a now-deleted post.

The Japanese foreign ministry retaliated by summoning Chinese Ambassador to Japan for what it called “extremely inappropriate” statements made by Xue.

Some senior Japanese political figures have called for Xue’s expulsion, but Tokyo has so far only asked Beijing to “take appropriate measures” without elaborating.

Chinese Defence Ministry spokesperson Jiang Bin said that Takaichi’s words were extremely irresponsible and dangerous.