Chinese envoy again urges Japan to reflect on, correct Takaichi's erroneous remarks on Taiwan

China's Permanent Representative to the United Nations Fu Cong on Monday called on Japan to reflect on and correct Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi's erroneous remarks regarding China's Taiwan region.

Fu made the call at a United Nations Security Council open debate on international rule of law in New York City.

At a Diet meeting on Nov. 7, 2025, Takaichi claimed that the Chinese central authorities' "use of force on Taiwan" could constitute a "survival-threatening situation" for Japan, implying the possibility of Japan's armed intervention in the Taiwan Strait.

Fu said that the victory in World War II upheld the bottom line of human civilization and gave birth to the existing international legal system.

Eighty years ago, the International Military Tribunal for the Far East tried Japanese war criminals, severely punished the chief culprits whose hands were stained with the blood of people in victim countries, upheld international justice and safeguarded human dignity, and also issued a stern warning against any illegal attempts to revive militarism and pursue aggression and expansion again, Fu noted.

However, Takaichi has acted against the tide of history by openly linking China's Taiwan region to Japan's "survival-threatening situation," sending a wrong signal of potential military intervention in the Taiwan question, and she has refused to retract her erroneous remarks, the Chinese envoy said.

"The restoration of Taiwan to China is a victorious outcome of the World Anti-Fascist War, and a crucial component of the post-war international order. This ironclad fact has been firmly secured from historical, political, and legal perspectives. Takaichi's fallacies grossly interfered in China's internal affairs, renounced Japan's international obligations as a defeated nation, openly challenged the international order underpinned by international law, and severely violated the basic norms governing international relations based on the purposes and principles of the UN Charter. We urge Japan to face history squarely, reflect on and correct its mistakes, and provide a responsible account to the international community through concrete actions," Fu added.

Also at the debate, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres called on member states to recommit themselves to the full respect of international law.

Chinese envoy again urges Japan to reflect on, correct Takaichi's erroneous remarks on Taiwan

Chinese and Finnish firms signed more than 10 cooperation agreements in Beijing on Monday, advancing joint work in innovation, green development and digitalization during the sixth meeting of the China-Finland Committee for Innovative Business Cooperation.

The gathering coincided with Finnish Prime Minister Petteri Orpo's visit to China and drew more than 120 business representatives from both countries.

The cooperation agreements span cutting-edge sectors such as green buildings, biomedicine and digital technology, shifting beyond product manufacturing toward joint research, development and service-oriented production.

"The main thing is the access to the enormous resources here and expertise in pharmaceutical industry and also the expertise and quality of everything. It's certainly second to none," said Juha Yrjanheikki, CEO of Aurealis Therapeutics, a cell and gene therapy platform company.

"It's a major market. So, it's absolutely essential to be in China for us," said Michal Horak, vice president for Asia Pacific at the Peikko Group, a Finnish manufacturing firm.

Many Finnish entrepreneurs said they would remain in China for one or several weeks to pursue further cooperation opportunities.

"Our business in China continues to be very relevant and very important. Now we're seeing a shift to more modernization of the existing building stock as well as the digitization and this is why we are very busy developing new solutions on these fields as well," said Jussi Herlin, vice chair of board of directors of Kone Corporation, a global leader in the elevator and escalator industry.

In 2025, two-way trade exceeded 8 billion U.S. dollars, while mutual investment stock surpassed 23 billion U.S. dollars, reflecting sustained enthusiasm from enterprises on both sides to deepen mutually beneficial cooperation, said a spokesperson of the Chinese Ministry of Commerce.

Orpo is on an official visit to China from Sunday to Wednesday at the invitation of Chinese Premier Li Qiang.

Earlier, a spokesperson for China's Ministry of Commerce said that Orpo is accompanied on his visit by executives of over 20 companies, spanning key Finnish sectors such as machinery, forest industry, innovation, clean energy and food, which fully demonstrates Finland's strong commitment to deepening bilateral economic and trade relations.

Chinese, Finnish enterprises sign deals as committee for innovative business cooperation meets