Japan, China continue to spar at UN over Takaichi remarks on Taiwan

Fallout continues after Japanese prime minister said use of force against Taiwan would be 'survival threatening' for Japan.Published On 5 Dec 2025Japan and China have escalated their war of words at the United Nations following unprecedented remarks from Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi about Tokyo’s role in a potential Taiwan conflict.Japan’s ambassador to the UN wrote to Secretary-General Antonio Guterres on Thursday, disputing allegations from Beijing that Takaichi had violated “the basic norms governing international relations” while speaking to the Japanese Diet last month.Recommended Stories list of 4 itemslist 1 of 4Honduran presidential candidate says Trump interfered in election: Reportlist 2 of 4The Take: Did Zuma’s daughter trick men into fighting for Russia?list 3 of 4Russia continues tech crackdown by blocking Snapchat, FaceTime accesslist 4 of 4Putin pledges ‘uninterrupted’ fuel shipment to India amid US sanctionsend of list“The assertions contained therein are inconsistent with the facts, unsubstantiated, and are categorically unacceptable,” UN ambassador Kazuyuki Yamazaki wrote.The letter marks the second time Japan has written to Guterres on the issue in as many months. Both times were in response to separate letters from China to the UN about Takaichi.The dispute began in November when Takaichi told Japanese legislators that should China ever use force against Taiwan, the move would constitute a “survival-threatening situation” for Japan, according to Japanese media.Taiwan and Japan do not have diplomatic relations, but they are close neighbours and unofficial allies. Their legislators also regularly engage in party-to-party meetings.Still, experts say that Takaichi’s comments marked a break in tradition for Tokyo, which is typically more circumspect on Taiwan issues.“This has been the unofficial position of Japan and the unspoken position of Japan for many years, but prime ministers just don’t say it [out loud],” Jeffrey Hall, a lecturer in Japanese studies at Kanda University of International Studies, told Al Jazeera.