After Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi expressed reflection on her Taiwan-related remarks, China's Permanent Representative to the United Nations, Fu Cong, stated on the 18th local time in New York at the UN that Japan's colonial rule was the darkest page in Taiwan's history. He urged Japan to deeply reflect on its historical crimes, strictly abide by its political commitments on the Taiwan issue, and immediately stop provocation and crossing the line.
According to reports by Xinhua News Agency and China News Service, the United Nations General Assembly held a high-level meeting on Thursday to commemorate the first "International Day for the Elimination of All Forms and Manifestations of Colonialism." In his speech at the meeting, Fu Cong pointed out that the purpose of the "International Day for the Elimination of All Forms and Manifestations of Colonialism" is to urge the international community to remember the harms of colonialism, accelerate existing decolonization processes, and put an end to all forms and manifestations of colonialism. The holding of this meeting by the General Assembly is of great significance.
Fu Cong said that although colonial occupation has ended and the colonial system has been dismantled, the world has not yet escaped the shadow of colonialism. Hegemonism, unilateralism, and power politics derived from colonialism are rampant.
He called on the international community to resist colonialist thinking in various fields such as ideology, politics, economy, culture, and education, eradicate the toxic legacy of colonialism, uphold international fairness and justice, and promote the democratization and rule of law in international relations.
Fu Cong said that the history of the world anti-fascist war teaches all countries that peace must be strived for and maintained. After the victory of World War II, the Nuremberg International Military Tribunal and the International Military Tribunal for the Far East put to trial the war criminals whose hands were stained with the blood of people from many countries and the chief culprits who launched aggressive wars, making them receive the punishment they deserved and pinning war criminals forever to the pillar of historical shame. The just nature of these trials is unshakable and not to be challenged.
Fu Cong continued, stating that in history, Japan once invaded China, the Korean Peninsula, and Southeast Asia and carried out inhumane colonial rule. Japanese invaders committed countless crimes in Taiwan: over 650,000 Taiwanese lost their lives under the Japanese military's slaughter, about 200,000 Taiwanese youth were forcibly conscripted, and more than 2,000 Taiwanese women were forced to become "comfort women."
Seventy percent of Taiwan's land was forcibly taken, and resources such as coal and gold mines were subject to devastating exploitation. This was the darkest page in Taiwan's history.
Fu Cong emphasized the need to resolutely defend the victory achievements of the Chinese people's War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression and the world anti-fascist war, resolutely defend the post-war international order, and never allow the denial or distortion of the history of aggression, never allow the revival of militarism, and never allow historical tragedies to be repeated.
He warned that any actions or attempts to challenge or subvert the post-war international order could create turmoil in the world and bring serious disasters to humanity as a community of shared destiny. We must be highly vigilant and resolutely oppose such actions.
As a defeated nation in World War II, Fu Cong urged Japan to deeply reflect on its historical crimes, strictly abide by its political commitments on the Taiwan issue, immediately stop provocation and crossing the line, and withdraw its erroneous statements.
Sino-Japanese relations have remained tense for more than a month since Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi’s “Taiwan contingency theory” speech on November 7. On the 15th, the Chinese and Japanese representatives to the United Nations clashed at the Security Council public debate on “Exercising Leadership for Peace.” Fu Cong stated at the meeting that the revival of militarism must never be allowed and again urged Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi to withdraw her “Taiwan contingency theory.” Japan’s Permanent Representative to the UN, Kazuyuki Yamazaki, rebutted that Fu Cong’s statement was baseless and regrettable.
On the 17th, Sanae Takaichi said that Japan is keeping the door to dialogue with China open, called for the advancement of a strategically mutually beneficial relationship, and demonstrated willingness to ease tensions through dialogue. Just a day before, in a parliamentary answer, Takaichi reflected on her Taiwan-related remarks that triggered a response from Beijing and made it clear that the conversation in question had gone beyond the Japanese government's "standard answer."