The fallout from new Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi’s comments on Taiwan continues to send shockwaves . The row erupted because Takaichi overturned Japan’s carefully cultivated posture of strategic ambiguity on Taiwan and crossed Beijing’s red line on what it contends is a renegade province it will reunite with the mainland. She is guilty of making explicit what has been implicit and adopting an expansive interpretation of 2015 security legislation allowing the overseas dispatch of Japan’s Self-Defense Forces even when Japan itself is not attacked.

Takaichi’s remarks were preceded by a meeting with the Taiwanese representative on the sidelines of the APEC Summit in South Korea. This prompted a stern rebuke from Beijing, making Takaichi’s Taiwan comments especially prov

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