China turns to France for support during its feud with Japan

BEIJING – Top Chinese diplomat Wang Yi used a call with his French counterpart to say the two sides needed to back each other, underscoring Beijing’s push to win diplomatic backing during

a spat with Japan.

Mr Wang said in the call on Nov 27 with the French president’s diplomatic adviser Emmanuel Bonne that Japanese Prime Minister

Sanae Takaichi had “made provocative remarks related to Taiwan”

earlier in November.

Beijing and Paris should “firmly support each other on issues involving each other’s core interests”, Mr Wang said, according to a statement from the Foreign Ministry in Beijing. “I hope that the French side will continue to firmly abide by the one-China principle.”

France’s embassy in Beijing didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment sent before the start of business on Nov 28. French President Emmanuel Macron is due to make a state visit to China next week, and hold discussions on economic and commercial matters. 

Beijing kept up pressure on Ms Takaichi with a commentary in the Chinese Communist Party’s flagship newspaper saying Japan has yet to show remorse and still refused to retract its “erroneous” remarks. The People’s Daily article on Nov 28 said the prime minister’s comments amounted to a serious provocation to China’s sovereignty.

China has tried to rally diplomatic support during its dispute with Japan by sending a letter to United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres last week accusing Ms Takaichi of violating international law with comments that publicly linked a Taiwan Strait crisis with the possible deployment of Japanese troops.

China’s moves seek to further its claims to Taiwan and widen the dispute beyond Japan in an international body where Beijing enjoys wide support.

The diplomatic push comes on top of other moves China has taken against Japan, such as economic reprisals and ramped up rhetoric.

Ms Takaichi spoke with Mr Macron on Nov 23 to reaffirm their partnership and the two countries have been working on a reciprocal access agreement to facilitate joint training between their militaries, according to Japan’s Foreign Ministry. As fellow members of the Group of Seven leading democracies, the two have shown unity in opposing any unilateral attempts by the likes of Beijing to change the status quo in the Taiwan Strait by force or coercion.

Ms Takaichi has refused China’s demand to retract the remarks she made on Nov 7 that linked Japan’s security to a Taiwan contingency, the first such instance for a sitting prime minister.

She this week said she did not intend to get specific on Taiwan and reiterated the government’s position on responding to regional contingencies – namely, that for any specific incident, Japan would make a judgment taking into account all relevant information. Bloomberg