BEIJING (Kyodo) -- China on Thursday urged Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi to immediately correct and retract her recent "egregious" remarks about her country's potential involvement in a Taiwan emergency, warning Tokyo will otherwise "bear all the consequences."
Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Lin Jian told a press conference, "If Japan dares to make any armed intervention into the Taiwan Strait, that would constitute an aggression and China will respond in a resolute way."
Last Friday, Takaichi told a parliamentary committee session that a Chinese military attack on Taiwan could be a "survival-threatening situation" for Japan, which could lead it to exercise its right to collective self-defense.
Her remarks concerning Taiwan have triggered a strong backlash from Beijing, with Chinese Consul General in Osaka Xue Jian threatening Saturday on X to "cut a dirty neck without a moment of hesitation." The post later became inaccessible.
Lin reiterated that Xue's social media post was a response to Takaichi's "wrongful and dangerous" comments. He urged Tokyo to "reflect on its own erroneous remarks" regarding Taiwan.
Communist-ruled China and Taiwan have been governed separately since they split due to a civil war in 1949. China views the self-ruled democratic island as a breakaway province to be unified with the mainland, by force if necessary.
The spokesman urged Japan to "immediately stop interfering in China's internal affairs," warning "those who play with fire will get burned."
Earlier this week, Takaichi denied her intention to retract her remarks, saying she had spoken under the assumption of a "worst-case" scenario and that they do not contradict the previous government's stance.
Japanese Foreign Minister Toshimitsu Motegi told reporters in Canada on Wednesday that Tokyo will continue to urge Beijing to "appropriately deal with" Xue's remarks so that they will "not negatively affect the overall direction" of Sino-Japanese relations.
Motegi made the remarks as he attended the Group of Seven foreign ministers' meeting in southern Ontario.
In late October, Takaichi and Chinese President Xi Jinping agreed to promote "strategic and mutually beneficial" ties during their first meeting in South Korea.
