The Chinese Communist Party is warning Japan that it will be “digging its own grave” if the country sides with the US to defend Taiwan in the event of an invasion — adding Japan is “powerless against the Chinese military.”
“Japan does not dare to confront China alone. If Japan involves itself in the Taiwan question militarily, it will be Japan digging its own grave,” said an op-ed published Wednesday in the Communist Party mouthpiece Global Times.
“Japan’s military capability is completely restrained by the US and does not have an independent combat capability. It is easy for the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) to paralyze the attack capability of the Japanese Self-Defense Forces. Japan itself is powerless against the Chinese military,” said the article, written by Song Zhongping, a Chinese military expert and TV commentator.
The op-ed said China would view Japan as a threat if it assisted US forces.
“If Japan cooperates with the US to carry out military actions against China, especially over the island of Taiwan or Diaoyu Islands, Beijing will view the move as engaging in a military conflict with China. In this sense, Japan will become the target of China’s military strike. This will endanger Japan’s survival,” Song wrote.
The piece was written in response to comments made by Japanese Deputy Prime Minister Taro Aso at a fundraising dinner for a fellow lawmaker Monday evening.
“If a major problem took place in Taiwan, it would not be too much to say that it could relate to a survival-threatening situation (for Japan),” Aso said.
A Chinese attack on Taiwan would create a dangerous predicament for Japan — one that would require the country to decide to exercise its right of collective self-defense or come to the aid of an ally.
“We need to think hard that Okinawa could be the next,” Aso said.
In a speech marking the 100th anniversary of the Chinese Communist Party, President Xi Jinping vowed to complete the “reunification” with Taiwan.
“Solving the Taiwan question and realizing the complete reunification of the motherland are the unswerving historical tasks of the Chinese Communist Party and the common aspiration of all Chinese people,” Xi said in the speech July 1 near Tiananmen Square.
“All sons and daughters of China, including compatriots on both sides of the Taiwan Strait, must work together and move forward in solidarity, resolutely smashing any ‘Taiwan independence’ plots,” Xi said.
Although Taiwan is sovereign, China considers it part of its territory and has vowed to take over the island nation as part of its “one China” policy.
In the Global Times piece, the author said Japanese politicians are spouting “a lot of nonsense” by signaling that they are on board if the US defends Taiwan.
Saying Japan “wishes to fish in troubled waters,” Song argued that without US intervention, Japan would slink away.
“But if Japan is all by itself, it would tend likely take a step back, or make compromises, when confronting China today,” he said.
“Japan is not a country with full sovereignty, militarily, diplomatically or politically. The reason why Japan keeps hyping up the so-called external threats is obvious: it needs to constantly exaggerate the situation so it can turn these into public opinion to support revising its pacifist constitution,” the article said.
“As long as Japan crosses China’s red line, the PLA will have no other choice but to strike back,” the op-ed concluded.
With Post wires
