Future of China-Japan relations hinges on Japan's choice: Chinese FM

China

Future of China-Japan relations hinges on Japan's choice: Chinese FM

2026-03-08 12:13 Last Updated At：03-09 11:55

The future of China-Japan relations hinges on Japan's choice, said Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi on Sunday.

Speaking at a press conference on the sidelines of the fourth session of the 14th National People's Congress in Beijing, Wang slammed Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi's erroneous remarks on China's Taiwan region.

"The future of China-Japan relations hinges on Japan's choice. Last year marked the 80th anniversary of the victory in the Chinese People's War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression. In such a special year, Japan should have deeply repented of the wrong path it chose, including its brutal invasion and colonization of Taiwan. Yet the current Japanese leader claimed that a Taiwan contingency could constitute the so-called 'survival-threatening situation' for Japan, under which Japan may exercise its so-called 'right of collective self-defense'," said Wang.

"It's well-known that the right of self-defense shall be invoked only when a country has come under armed attack. One would ask: Since Taiwan affairs are purely China's internal affairs, what gives Japan the right to interfere with them? Why is Japan entitled to invoke self-defense if anything happens in China's Taiwan region? Is exercising the 'right of collective self-defense' simply a way to hollow out Japan's Pacifist Constitution, which renounces the right of belligerency? Given that Japanese militarists had used 'survival-threatening situation' as pretext for launching aggression, such rhetoric can only make the people in China and the rest of Asia alert and deeply worried: Where exactly is Japan headed?" said Wang.

Wang also pointed out that this year also marks another significant 80th anniversary -- that of the opening of the Tokyo Trials.

"Eighty years ago, judges from 11 countries commenced proceedings that would span two and a half years, reviewed a mountain of irrefutable evidence, and laid bare the innumerable crimes of Japanese militarists. The Tokyo Trials, a litmus test of humanity's conscience, delivered historical justice. Eighty years on today, Japan is given another opportunity for serious soul-searching. As Chinese adages remind us, 'History is a mirror that reflects the rise and fall of human affairs' and 'The past, if not forgotten, can serve as a guide for the future.' We hope the Japanese people will keep their eyes wide open and never allow anyone foolish enough to tread again the same disastrous path today," said the foreign minister.

China is already a strong country, said Wang, adding that the 1.4 billion people of China will never allow anyone to justify colonialism or reverse history's verdict on aggression.

Nicaraguan FM warns of militarism revival

Nicaragua's co-foreign minister Valdrack Jaentschke has warned that militarism must never be allowed to rise again, as Japan's recent moves to lift its arms export ban and revise the pacifist Constitution continue to draw international concern.

This year marks the 80th anniversary of the opening of the Tokyo Trials, where Japan's Class-A war criminals from World War II were brought to justice.

In an interview with China Global Television Network (CGTN), Valdrack Jaentschke voiced his concern that today's world order is being undermined by interventionism and other challenges.

"It is necessary for us to remember that after the end of World War II, countries worked hard to build a new international order based on international law. However, regrettably, more than 80 years later, we are seeing that this once explored and attempted order is being challenged by interventionism, a confrontational mindset, and tendencies like 'might makes right.' These are precisely the conditions that gave rise to fascism and militarism in the past, which ultimately led to the tragedy of World War II," he said.

He said the international community has a responsibility to pursue a new international order -- one fundamentally grounded in peace.

"Looking back at the history more than eight decades ago and comparing it with today's reality, it is our responsibility to recognize that the world should, and must, build a new international order that is more just, fairer, rooted in international law, based on a logic of mutual benefit and shared success, and fundamentally grounded in peace," said the minister.

"Today, as we revisit the Tokyo Trials, it is meant to remind the world that such a tragedy must never be repeated -- and that we must do everything in our power to prevent it from happening again. We must stop that dark world -- born from militarism, interventionism, and fascism -- from ever returning," he said.