Top Chinese diplomat Wang Yi used a call with his French counterpart to say the two sides needed to back each other, underscoring Beijing’s push to win diplomatic backing during a spat with Japan.
Wang said in the call Thursday with the French president’s diplomatic adviser, Emmanuel Bonne, that Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi had “made provocative remarks related to Taiwan” this month.
Beijing and Paris should “firmly support each other on issues involving each other’s core interests,” Wang said, according to a statement from the Foreign Ministry in Beijing. “I hope that the French side will continue to firmly abide by the one-China principle.”
France’s embassy in Beijing didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment sent before the start of business on Friday. French President Emmanuel Macron is due to make a state visit to China next week, and hold discussions on economic and commercial matters.
China has tried to rally diplomatic support during its dispute with Japan by sending a letter to United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres last week accusing Takaichi of violating international law with comments that publicly linked a Taiwan Strait crisis with the possible deployment of Japanese troops.
China’s moves seek to further its claims to Taiwan and widen the dispute beyond Japan in an international body where Beijing enjoys wide support.
The diplomatic push comes on top of other moves China has taken against Japan, such as economic reprisals and ramped up rhetoric.
Takaichi has refused China’s demand to retract the remarks she made on Nov. 7 that linked Japan’s security to a Taiwan contingency, the first such instance for a sitting prime minister.
Takaichi this week said she did not intend to get specific on Taiwan and reiterated the government’s position on responding to regional contingencies — namely, that for any specific incident, Japan would make a judgment taking into account all relevant information.
With assistance from Colum Murphy and Alfred Liu.
This article was generated from an automated news agency feed without modifications to text.
