Within half a month, former Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe has twice made irresponsible remarks on the Taiwan question, sparing no efforts in interfering in China’s internal affairs and fanning up the enmity toward China in Japan and the international community.
After claiming at the beginning of this month that “a Taiwan emergency is a Japanese emergency, and therefore an emergency for the Japan-US alliance”, he was full of hot air again when speaking at a recent forum.
Abe, who resigned because of physical conditions last year, was quite cautious in the last days of his office, but seemed to have given free rein to himself now that he is no longer in power. His constant attempts to draw public attention to the Taiwan question are essentially driven by his right-wing adventurism.
Abe’s grandfather Kishi Nobusuke was a staunch anti-communist Taiwan supporter, and Abe, deeply influenced by Kishi’s political position, wrote in his book that his political DNA was from his grandfather.
During his second term, Abe broke through many forbidden zones and redlines in Japanese politics by manipulating public opinions, revising laws, and taking deliberate actions. For instance, he chose to visit the Yasukuni Shrine at the one-year anniversary of his taking office; he officially amended the pacifist Constitution and lifted the ban on the right to collective self-defense on the 60th anniversary of the formation of the Japan Self-Defense Forces (JSDF).
Abe shocked the international community by saying there was no conclusion on the war of aggression, a shameless attempt to whitewash Japan’s aggression during WWII by confusing the right and wrong.
He paid tribute to Japanese aggressors dying during WWII in Iwo Jima and Myanmar, even getting on the warplane numbered “731” without feeling qualms at all. No wonder the Wall Street Journal once called Abe the most dangerous man in Asia.
Although he has stepped down from the throne, Abe remains a Liberal Democratic Party(LDP) member and was recently elected head of the largest LDP faction. His constant provocations on the Taiwan question lately are partly a result of his right-wing nature and partly a stunt to rake in more political capital at home, including a greater discourse power and influence.
Ryuji Ishida, a researcher at the International Peace Research Institute of Meiji Gakuin University, pointed out that Abe’s abhorrent statements recently clearly reflected his obsession with realizing what his grandfather Kishi Nobusuke, a Class-A war criminal of WWII, didn’t.
Professor Zhao Hongwei at Hosei University said all right-wingers in Tokyo have an illusion about Taiwan because the island was its first colony, and it was colonies that made Japan as strong an empire as the other colonists. That’s why the Japanese right-wingers are still indulged in the “past glory” and dreaming of reviving the “Greater East Asia Coprosperity Sphere”.
Whether it’s the inner voice or just political rhetoric, Abe is miscalculating if he plans on stirring up trouble on the Taiwan question. Having waged the aggressive war against China and committed appalling atrocities on the Chinese people, Japan has no qualification or right to point fingers at the Taiwan question.
Abe’s extremely wrong remarks on this topic have seriously violated the basic norms governing international relations and the principles of the four China-Japan political documents. The Japanese government is duty-bound to keep the anti-China politicians from running amuck.
A warning to Abe is that today’s China is no longer what it was when Kishi Nobusuke was still around. The Chinese government and Chinese people have adamant resolve and will to safeguard national sovereignty, security, and reunification. The Taiwan question is China’s internal affair. It has nothing to do with either Japan the country or Abe the person. Here is another warning for Abe and his like – those who play with fire will get burned. Stay clear from the Taiwan question and you will be all right; dare to meddle and you will be served right.
