At a meeting between foreign ministry officials of China and Japan on Tuesday, Beijing called for Tokyo to "stop making trouble on issues related to China and correct its mistake with concrete actions", and once again asked for a retraction of Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi's provocative comments on Taiwan.

Liu Jinsong, director-general of the Chinese Foreign Ministry's Department of Asian Affairs, held consultations in Beijing with Masaaki Kanai, head of the Japanese Foreign Ministry's Asian and Oceanian Affairs Bureau.

On Nov 7, Takaichi became the first incumbent Japanese prime minister to publicly suggest in Japan's parliament the possibility of Japanese military intervention in Taiwan.

According to Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Mao Ning, the Chinese side pointed out at Tuesday's talks that Takaichi's absurd claims gravely violate international law and the fundamental norms of international relations, severely damage the postwar international order, and blatantly betray the one-China principle and the spirit of the four China-Japan political documents.

Takaichi's remarks "fundamentally damage the political foundation of China-Japan ties, are extremely malicious in nature and impact, and have spurred fury and condemnation among the Chinese people", Mao said.

With reports in some media saying that the bilateral ties are falling to a record low, Mao said the root cause is Takaichi's comments on Taiwan, and "China's stance on safeguarding its core interests and upholding international justice remains unchanged".

"Japan must retract its erroneous remarks, repent and change course, offering a clear and satisfactory answer to the Chinese people," she added.

Observers said the signal sent by Beijing is that Japan's refusal to withdraw Takaichi's remarks is an attempt to gloss it over and will only perpetuate the ongoing tension.

Lyu Yaodong, a research fellow at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences' Institute of Japanese Studies, said, "Japan should reconsider and think twice about whether it serves its fundamental national interests to sacrifice its overall relations with China.

"Tokyo is seeking benefits from two approaches at the same time: gaining economic profits in its relations with China while making trouble and political provocations one after another. We should not let this happen," he added.

Liu Jiangyong, a professor of Japanese studies at Tsinghua University, said that Japan is the only country in the world that has exercised colonial rule over China's Taiwan province for 50 years, and that some right-wing anti-China politicians in Japan, such as Takaichi, have shown little reflection on the history of colonial rule.

"Takaichi's remarks were not a slip of the tongue or just her personal views. The words actually revealed the die-hard beliefs and strategic plans of Japan's right-wing anti-China forces," he added.

Recently, some Japanese officials confirmed that the government has planned a far-reaching reform to revert the ranks of Japan's Self-Defense Forces to the names used by the prewar Imperial Japanese Army.

The plan triggered widespread criticism by Japan's Asian neighbors, as it is seen as betraying the Self-Defense Forces' long-lasting tradition of downplaying war-related features and reminds the people of countries invaded by Japan of the atrocities and painful memories of more than 80 years ago.

In response to the rank-reverting plan, Mao, the Foreign Ministry spokeswoman, said Japan's right-wing forces are "sparing no efforts" to remove restraints imposed by the country's pacifist Constitution, and are advancing military expansion and buildup.

She blasted Tokyo's drive in recent years to revise security policies and lift limits on weapons exports, and its plan to abolish Japan's Three Non-Nuclear Principles — not possessing and not producing nuclear weapons, and not allowing introduction of nuclear weapons into Japanese territory.

"Eighty years on, militarism must never be revived in Japan, the post-WWII international order must never be challenged, and world peace and stability must never be ruined again," Mao added.

zhangyunbi@chinadaily.com.cn