China has called on the US to work together to prevent a resurgence of militarism in Japan, with Beijing signalling that more sanctions could be in the pipeline for Tokyo’s defence industry.
“Preventing militarism from harming the world again is in the common interest of both our countries [China and the United States],” Liu Pengyu, spokesman for the Chinese embassy in Washington, said in an article published in US-based Executive Intelligence Review earlier this week.
“We should rise above differences, cooperate with each other, and live up to our obligations as major countries … and thwart any plot to revive the spectre of militarism.”
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China and Japan have been embroiled in a diplomatic row since November when Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi suggested that a Taiwan contingency could warrant a Japanese military response, which Beijing views as crossing its red line.
Beijing has repeatedly said Taiwan is the core of its core issues. It views the island as part of China to be reunited by force if necessary. Most countries, including Japan and the United States, do not recognise Taiwan as an independent state, but Washington is opposed to any attempt to take the self-governed island by force and is committed to supplying it with weapons.
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In the months since making the suggestion, Takaichi has refused to retract her comment and Beijing has taken a series of diplomatic and economic retaliatory actions.
