Former Japanese Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama

Former Japanese Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama cited quotes from Confucius, saying "one should know his mistakes and correct them…Not to mend the fault one has made is to err indeed" to criticize Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi for her erroneous remarks on Taiwan. 

Posting on social platform X on Thursday, former Japanese Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama wrote that "a leader's remarks, which deviated from the road that 'the Taiwan question is China's internal affair,' have brought Japan-China relations to the brink of a worst-case scenario, with one hotel reportedly receiving a thousand cancellations. The damage to Japan's national interest is immeasurable."

"Confucius said that 'When you have faults, do not fear to abandon them.' 'Not to mend the fault one has made is to err indeed.' It is imperative that this error be rectified without delay," wrote the former Japanese Prime Minister.

Takaichi claimed at a Diet meeting on November 7 that the Chinese mainland's "use of force on Taiwan" could constitute a "survival-threatening situation" for Japan. She refused to retract her remarks which implies the possibility of armed intervention in the Taiwan Straits, according to Japanese media the Asahi Shimbun.

Multiple Chinese ministries and government agencies have condemned the Japanese side's related moves and remarks, warning that Japan would face a resolute response if it dares to meddle in the Taiwan question.

Hatoyama also wrote on X on November 8 that "there was once a certain figure who said that a contingency in Taiwan would be a contingency for Japan, and now Prime Minister Takaichi has stated that such a situation could constitute a "survival-threatening situation" in which Japan could exercise collective self-defense." He criticized Takaichi's remarks served to justify Japan's military expansion. "Yet Japan respects the fact that Taiwan is part of China. The Taiwan question is, fundamentally, an internal affair of China, and Japan must not involve itself," Hatoyama noted. 

Global Times