The Chinese Communist Party is putting the squeeze on Japan to punish its new Prime Minister for telling the truth. Asked in Parliament on Nov. 7, Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi explained that an attack by Beijing on Taiwan could be “survival-threatening” for Japan, potentially triggering a military response. Cue the weekslong campaign of outrage and coercion, as if it were Ms. Takaichi rather than China’s Xi Jinping who is threatening to blow up the status quo.
Beijing began its reply by firing up tensions around disputed and even undisputed islands, dispatching ships and drones. Chinese diplomats assailed Japan, with one threatening, “We have no choice but cut off that dirty neck that has been lunged at us.”