No ties reset until Japan revises Taiwan position, Chinese official tells delegation

A senior Chinese Communist Party official reiterated to a delegation of Japanese lawmakers on a rare visit to Beijing that China will not budge on its policy toward Tokyo unless Japan revises its position on Taiwan.

The visit by the cross-party delegation of lawmakers — the first since Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi said in November that Japan could intervene militarily in a Taiwan crisis — comes as ties between the two Asian powerhouses remain at their lowest point in recent memory. 

Shinichi Isa, a Lower House member with the Centrist Reform Alliance who led the cross-party delegation, said Lu Kang, deputy head of the Communist Party’s International Department, had told the group that unless Japan changes its understanding regarding Taiwan, “the Chinese government has no intention of changing its policy” toward Japan, Japanese media reported. 

The remarks suggest little immediate prospect of a thaw in bilateral relations, which deteriorated sharply after Takaichi told parliament that Chinese military action around Taiwan could constitute a “survival-threatening situation” for Japan. The term is a legal designation that could allow Tokyo to exercise its right to collective self-defense and respond militarily. 

Beijing, which claims democratic Taiwan as its own, vehemently protested the remarks and has since taken a series of diplomatic and economic measures against its East Asian neighbor, piling pressure on Takaichi to retract her comments. 

“The root cause of the serious difficulties in China-Japan relations lies in the erroneous remarks and actions on Taiwan,” Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Lin Jian told a regular news conference the same day. 

“They should heed and value the voice of reason in Japan, repent for and correct the wrongdoings,” he added. 

Isa reportedly characterized the meeting as “a difficult exchange of views,” but said it represented “an important step toward the next stage.” 

The delegation, comprising Isa, Liberal Democratic Party Lower House lawmaker Gaku Hashimoto and Komeito Upper House member Yudai Kawamura, arrived in Beijing earlier this week at the invitation of the Chinese side.

The Chinese Foreign Ministry said more information on the meeting will be released “in due course.”