On Friday Japan’s new Prime Minister, Sanae Takaichi, suggested that if China attacked Taiwan then Japan could respond with its own self-defence force.
- “If there are battleships and the use of force, no matter how you think about it, it could constitute a survival-threatening situation,” said Takaichi
Under Japan’s 2015 security legislation, a “survival-threatening situation” refers to a scenario in which an armed attack on an ally presents an existential danger to Japan itself, allowing the country’s Self-Defense Forces to take action in response.
Takaichi’s comments invoking that clause provoked anger from Beijing, with China’s foreign ministry calling them “egregious.”
