Japan Envoy Rebuts China's Claim in Letter to U.N. Chief

New York, Nov. 24 (Jiji Press)--Kazuyuki Yamazaki, Japan's ambassador to the United Nations, on Monday sent U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres a letter rebutting China's claim over Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi's recent remarks on a possible Taiwan contingency.

China's assertions shown in a letter sent to the U.N. chief by Fu Cong, China's ambassador to the world body, on Friday "appear to be inconsistent with the facts and unsubstantiated," Yamazaki said in his letter.

Takaichi said at a meeting of Japan's parliament earlier this month that China's possible use of force against Taiwan could constitute a so-called survival-threatening situation for Japan, in which the country can exercises its right to collective self-defense.

Yamazaki's letter said that Japan's fundamental defense policy is "the posture of passive defense strategy, which is exclusively defense-oriented, contrary to the Chinese side's claims," adding, "Japan also defines, through domestic law, situations in which the right of collective self-defense recognized under the U.N. Charter can be exercised, in a restrictive manner."

Takaichi's remarks are "grounded in this position," the letter said. "Therefore, China's assertion that Japan would exercise the right of self-defense even in the absence of an armed attack is erroneous," it added.

[Copyright The Jiji Press, Ltd.]