China hits out at Japan’s Takaichi for meeting Taiwan’s Lin

Bloomberg - China criticized Japan’s Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi for meeting with Taiwan officials on the sidelines of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit and her subsequent social media posts about the discussions.

“Those actions are egregious in nature and impact,” China’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs said in a Saturday statement on its website. “China expresses its firm opposition and has made serious demarches and protests to Japan.”

Takaichi met Lin Hsin-i, an advisor to Taiwan’s President Lai Ching-te, on Friday and Saturday, according to X posts by the Japanese prime minister. She said in one of the posts that she looks forward to deepening cooperation between Japan and Taiwan.

The Chinese ministry expressed concern that Takaichi had “deliberately met with” Taiwanese representatives and “hyped it on social media.”

China’s comments follow the first formal meeting between the Japanese premier and President Xi Jinping on Friday on the sidelines of the APEC summit.

APEC is one of a limited number of international forums Taiwan is a member of. It’s customary for Taiwan’s APEC representative to meet with leaders from other countries at the summit.

Last year, Lin met with then-US President Joe Biden and Shigeru Ishiba, Japan’s prime minister at the time, during the APEC meeting in Peru. His discussions with Ishiba focused on cooperation in defense and the semiconductor supply chain.

What makes this year’s exchanges unusual is that Takaichi highlighted her meetings with Lin on her X account, giving them more publicity than in previous years.

China views Taiwan as part of its territory and has repeatedly vowed to bring the self-ruled democracy under its rule, by force if necessary. The government in Taipei rejects Beijing’s claim, asserting that Taiwan is already a de facto independent nation awaiting broader international recognition.

US Senior Official to the APEC Forum Casey Mace told reporters on Friday that “it’s a great forum for us to cooperate with Taiwan because it’s one of the few where we’re both members.”

Responding to Beijing’s criticism, Taiwan’s Foreign Ministry said in a statement on Sunday that “it is natural for Taiwan to engage and interact with other members” during the summit.

“China’s criticism of normal Taiwan–Japan interactions based on its so-called ‘one-China principle’ has seriously violated APEC’s core principle of equal participation among all members,” it added.

China is Japan’s largest trading partner, while the US provides Tokyo with crucial security guarantees, which forces Japan into an awkward balancing act between the two superpowers.

A number of other issues continue to test ties between Beijing and Tokyo, including China’s increasing military activity around a disputed cluster of islands, trade restrictions, and concerns over maintaining peace and stability in the Taiwan Strait.