China slams Japan's 'squeezing toothpaste' tactics on the Taiwan question

China said on Tuesday that Japan is still resorting to a "non-initiating approach" like squeezing toothpaste and planting hidden traps on the crux of the matter, in an attempt to confuse the public and muddle through.

In response to recent comments made during a parliamentary session on Monday, Foreign Ministry spokesman Guo Jiakun said China had noted that Japanese Foreign Minister Toshimitsu Motegi had reiterated parts of the China-Japan Joint Statement related to the Taiwan question.

"However, we also noted that the Japanese side failed to reaffirm other important elements of the joint statement, including that the Government of Japan recognizes the Government of the People's Republic of China as the sole legal government of China and that Taiwan is an inalienable part of the territory of the People's Republic of China," Guo said.

The spokesman added that China also noticed that when citing provisions of the Cairo Declaration, the Japanese side merely mentioned China, Northeast China, Taiwan and the Penghu Islands, while deliberately omitting crucial wording specifying that these were territories stolen by Japan from China.

"I want to once again urge the Japanese side to abide by the spirit of the four political documents between China and Japan, earnestly reflect on and correct its mistakes, and retract Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi's erroneous statements," Guo said.