The U.S. has Japan¡¯s back in any dispute it has with China, and Beijing¡¯s recent remarks slamming Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi have been outrageous, U.S. Ambassador to Japan George Glass said Thursday.
¡°This is a classic case of Chinese economic coercion, and I just want to say directly from the president and from myself and from the embassy for the Prime Minister, we have her back,¡± Glass said after a meeting with Foreign Minister Toshimitsu Motegi.
Glass has taken to social media several times since the dispute erupted to criticize China and Chinese officials for their response to remarks Takaichi made last week related to Taiwan.
Takaichi became the first sitting Japanese leader in decades to publicly link a Taiwan Strait crisis with the possible deployment of Japanese troops. Her remarks drew swift retaliation from Beijing, which warned its citizens against traveling to Japan and suspended moves to resume Japanese seafood imports.
Beijing has also paused the approval process for new Japanese films and suspended six titles that had already been cleared and secured release dates, according to people familiar with the matter.
Takaichi said that if military force were to be used in a Taiwan conflict, including the use of warships, it could be considered a ¡°survival-threatening situation¡± for Japan. That classification is significant because it would provide a legal justification for Japan to deploy its military to help defend friendly nations.
Her comments sparked anger from Xue Jian, the consul-general of China in Osaka, who took to X to say that Japan¡¯s stance in considering a Taiwan contingency as threatening its own survival is a fatal path chosen by ¡°foolish politicians.¡±
¡°If you go sticking that filthy neck where it doesn¡¯t belong, it¡¯s gonna get sliced right off. You ready for that?¡± Xue wrote in a separate post, according to Japan Forward, the English-language branch of the Sankei Shimbun newspaper. The post was subsequently deleted.
Glass responded to that with a post on X that sarcastically equated the threat to an early Christmas card to help support U.S.-Japan relations.
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