According to information released by Japanese news agencies, the Sazanami headed south of the East China Sea, taking more than ten hours, at the same time as several Australian and New Zealand ships also crossed the Strait as part of joint naval maneuvers . The Japanese news agency Kyodo also specifies that the approval to carry out the operation would have come directly from the Japanese prime minister Fumio Kishidawhich reportedly gave the order to send the ship in response to increased Chinese military activities in the region. At least at the moment, the Japanese authorities are refraining from making any comments regarding the operation.
However, the reaction of the Chinese was prompt: from Beijing they let it be known that “Japan must not cross the impassable red line” represented by Chinese sovereignty over Taiwan. This was stated during a press conference by the spokesperson of the Chinese Foreign Ministry Lin Jian, responding to a question put to him by journalists regarding the fact that a Japanese destroyer, for the first time since the end of the Second World War, had crossed the Taiwan Strait. Lin said that “the Taiwan issue concerns China’s sovereignty and territorial integrity, as well as the political basis of China-Japan relations, and represents an insurmountable red line.”
China, therefore, in response to the passage of the Japanese ship, “has taken measures in accordance with laws and regulations”, presenting a “firm protest” to Tokyo. The Chinese spokesperson also promptly recalled the China-Japan Joint Declaration, which reads: “The Japanese Government recognizes the Government of the People’s Republic of China as the only legitimate government of China. The government of the People’s Republic reiterates that Taiwan is an inseparable part of China’s territory. The Japanese government fully understands and respects this position of the Chinese government and is committed to following the position of the art. 8 of the Potsdam Declaration”. The Beijing government “therefore urges Japan to respect the commitments made on the Taiwan issue, to behave with caution and not to create interference in relations between China and Japan or in the peace and stability of the Taiwan Strait”.
The words of the authorities in Beijing, which considers Taiwan an integral part of its sovereign territory, sound like a good warning to the government in Tokyo: woe betide anyone who crosses the red linethe consequences could be drastic.
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