China pushes back against Takaichi’s call to remove ‘enemy state’ wartime label

Live footage of Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi is displayed on a large screen as she addresses the 81st United Nations General Assembly at U.N. headquarters in New York on Tuesday. | REUTERS

Sep 24, 2026

China pushed back sharply a day after Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi urged the United Nations Charter’s anachronistic “enemy state” clauses be scrapped, insisting the provisions remain relevant despite having once joined an international consensus to remove them.

Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Guo Jiakun said on Wednesday that the clauses were a “vital institutional arrangement” that prevents fascism and militarism from ever again threatening international peace and security.

A day earlier, Takaichi had used her first U.N. speech to call for the organization’s 81-year-old Charter to be revised, pointing specifically to provisions that still refer to Japan and other defeated Axis powers as “enemy states.”

In a time of both misinformation and too much information,
quality journalism is more crucial than ever.
By subscribing, you can help us get the story right.