Japan criticises China after 3-way culture talks with South Korea nixed
Sign up now: Get insights on Asia's fast-moving developments
Japan and China have been engaged in a diplomatic row since Beijing harshly criticised Ms Takaichi’s answer to parliamentary questions on Nov 7.
PHOTO: REUTERS
Follow topic:
TOKYO - Japan’s top government spokesman criticised China on Nov 21 after it decided to postpone a trilateral culture ministers’ meeting also involving South Korea, as a dispute over Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi’s remarks on Taiwan continued to escalate.
At a press conference, Chief Cabinet Secretary Minoru Kihara described remarks by Chinese Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Mao Ning on the decision as “withering bilateral people-to-people exchanges” and “conflicting” with the shared goal of Tokyo and Beijing to build constructive and stable ties.
She told a news conference in Beijing on Nov 20 that Ms Takaichi’s “extremely erroneous remarks” have made it impossible to hold the meeting, slated for Nov 24 in Macau, and had “undermined the foundation and atmosphere” of three-way cooperation.
The South Korean Culture, Sports and Tourism Ministry said on Nov 20 that it had been informed by China two days earlier that the meeting had been shelved. Mr Kihara said there was no related official announcement and declined to comment about the postponement.
Japan and China have been engaged in a diplomatic row since Beijing harshly criticised Ms Takaichi’s answer to parliamentary questions on Nov 7 that a military attack on Taiwan could present a “survival-threatening situation” for Japan, indicating a potential response involving its Self-Defence Forces.
Communist-led China and democratic Taiwan have been governed separately since they split in 1949 following a civil war.
Beijing views the self-ruled island as a breakaway province to be reunified with the mainland, by force if necessary, insisting that the issue is purely an “internal affair”. KYODO NEWS
