BEIJING, November 14. /TASS/. Japan will face a severe blow if Tokyo decides to use force in the situation around Taiwan, Senior Colonel Jiang Bin, a spokesperson for the Chinese Ministry of National Defense, said at a regular news briefing.

"Should the Japanese side fail to draw lessons from history and dare to take a risk, or even use force to interfere in the Taiwan question, it will only suffer a crushing defeat against the steel-willed PLA (Chinese People’s Liberation Army – TASS) and pay a heavy price," he warned in response to a remark from Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi that a potential military crisis near the island may force Tokyo to resort to the right to self-defense.

The senior colonel described the Taiwan issue as "exclusively an internal affair of China that will not tolerate any foreign interference," as he dismissed what he called the erroneous rhetoric from the Japanese leader regarding Taiwan as a "gross interference."

During a parliamentary debate last week, Takaichi stated that a potential military crisis off Taiwan would pose an "existential threat" that would force Japan to exercise its "right to collective self-defense." This remark provoked a strong reaction from Beijing, which issued a serious warning to Tokyo. In addition, China’s Consul General in Osaka Xue Jian threatened on X to cut off the Japanese prime minister’s head, but this post was later deleted.

Taiwan has been governed by its own administration since 1949, when the remnants of the Kuomintang forces led by Chiang Kai-shek (1887-1975) fled there after their defeat in the Chinese Civil War. Beijing considers Taiwan a province of the People’s Republic of China (PRC), a position supported by the majority of countries, including Russia.