Japan’s Aso Draws China Anger for Comments on Defending Taiwan
- Tokyo tries to avoid alienating China, its top trade partner
- Xi says quest to gain control of Taiwan a historic mission
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Japan and the U.S. would have to defend Taiwan together in the event of a major problem, Kyodo News reported Deputy Prime Minister Taro Aso as saying, marking some of the highest-level remarks from Tokyo on the sensitive subject.
In comments at a political fundraising party in Tokyo on Monday, Aso said an invasion of Taiwan by China could be seen as an existential threat, allowing Japan to exercise the right to collective self-defense, Kyodo reported.