TEHRAN – It is highly worrisome that China and Japan, two highly important countries in East Asia, are engaged in a verbal clash over Taiwan. China and Japan, respectively the second- and third-largest economies in the world, are great honors of the Asian continent, and it is extremely essential that officials from the two countries avoid inflammatory remarks against each other.

The two countries are major trading partners. Bilateral trade reached $292.6 billion in 2024, and China has been Japan's largest trading partner since 2005. It is greatly hoped that China and Japan will end their spat over Taiwan, especially as Japan has announced that Tokyo will respect its one-China policy based on the 1972 Japan-China Joint Statement.

In his meeting on October 31 with Chinese President Xi Jinping on the sidelines of the APEC Economic Leaders' Meeting in Gyeongju, the Republic of Korea (another country that is a source of Asian pride), Japan’s new Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi reaffirmed the 1972 Joint Statement. However, it is regrettable that the two countries have summoned each other’s ambassadors and traded unsettling remarks.

In that meeting, according to Japan Times, Takaichi allayed fears she would take a more hawkish approach to Beijing, conveying instead her will to “deepen their personal relationship” and promote a “mutually beneficial relationship based on common strategic interests.”

It is necessary that China and Japan not revive the old hostilities that date back to colonial times and continued up to the Second World War, but build on the future. As two countries separated only by the sea, Japan and China cannot move borders, and their friendship will benefit the entire world, especially the Asian continent.

It is advisable that Japan not link its interests to the Taiwan issue, especially as the United States is using the Taiwan issue as a lever to pressure China while selling billions of dollars’ worth of arms to Taiwan. It is a historical fact that Taiwan was part of China until 1949, but the then rulers of China fled to Taiwan and formed their own government with the backing of the West, especially the United States. Otherwise, there would be no such issue as the Taiwan dispute today.