Japan trying to revive wartime militarism with its Taiwan comments, China’s top paper says

BEIJING (Reuters) -Japan is trying to revive its wartime militarism and repeat the mistakes of history with Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi’s remarks on Taiwan, China’s top newspaper, People’s Daily, said on Friday.

Takaichi sparked a diplomatic row with Beijing with remarks in parliament last week that a Chinese attack on Taiwan could amount to a “survival-threatening situation” and trigger a military response from Tokyo.

China’s top diplomat in Osaka shared a news article about Takaichi’s remarks about Taiwan on X and commented “the dirty neck that sticks itself in must be cut off”, prompting a protest from Japan’s government.

Chinese state media has since weighed in with a series of vitriolic editorials and commentaries lambasting Takaichi, given lingering grievances about Japan’s wart