Interview: Japanese PM's erroneous Taiwan-related remarks destabilizing to regional security, says Australian party chief

SYDNEY, Nov. 22 (Xinhua) -- Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi's erroneous remarks on China's Taiwan are very destabilizing and undermine the security of the entire region, Australian Citizens Party's National Chairman Robert Barwick has said.

"One of the cornerstones of regional security since World War II has been Japan's pacifist constitution, which Takaichi has a long record of trying to water down, and has continued trying to do so as prime minister," Barwick told Xinhua in a recent interview.

On top of that, Takaichi has shown her sympathy for the Japanese war criminals who committed atrocities against Chinese, Koreans, Australians and others in World War II, Barwick said.

"Her statement is therefore very destabilizing to regional security," he said, adding that it "undermines both Japan's security, and the security of the entire region."

Takaichi said on Nov. 7 during a Diet session that the Chinese mainland's "use of force on Taiwan" could constitute a "survival-threatening situation" for Japan and implied the possibility of armed intervention in the Taiwan Strait.

"Japan has an established record of claiming its aggression was self-defence," Barwick said, citing the Sept. 18 Incident in 1931 as one example -- during which Japanese soldiers launched a false-flag attack against a railway track in northeast China, used it as a pretext to claim they were under threat, and invaded China.

"This led to horrific atrocities against civilians, such as the biological warfare experiments on humans perpetrated by the infamous Unit 731," he said.

Barwick said right-wing nationalism and militarism are rising in Japan. "In this climate, economic relations would be severely damaged, undermining regional cooperation and development," he added.

Given Australia's own history with Japan, which bombed Darwin and Townsville in World War II, and committed atrocities against Australian prisoners of war, Barwick said Australia should also be alarmed by Takaichi's rhetoric and denial of Japanese atrocities. ■