China Warns Japan Will Pay "Hot Price" If Acting Not In Accordance With Taiwan's Rules

JAKARTA - China's Ministry of Defense on Thursday warned that Japan would pay "harvest prices" if it did not comply with Taiwan's rules, responding to Japan's plan to place missiles on an island about 100 km (62 miles) from Taiwan's coast.

The remarks come amid the worst diplomatic crisis between the two countries in recent years, after Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi said this month Beijing's hypothetical attacks on Taiwan could trigger a military response from Tokyo.

Japanese Defense Minister Shinjiro Koizumi said on Sunday that plans to place an intermediate-range ground-to-air missile unit at a military base in Yonaguni, an island about 110 km (68 miles) off Taiwan's east coast, "continues to progress".

When asked about the deployment of the troops, which have been criticized by China's Foreign Ministry, the Ministry of Defense said the way to "resolve Taiwan's problems" was China's business and had nothing to do with Japan, which controlled Taiwan from 1895 to the end of World War II in 1945.

"Japan not only failed to reflect deeply on the crimes of aggression and its severe colonialism in Taiwan, but instead, against world opinion, Japan is actually complacent about the imagination of military intervention in the Taiwan Strait," Jiang Bin spokeswoman said at a regular press conference. November 27.

"The People's Liberation Army has a strong ability and reliable means to defeat the attacking enemy. If the Japanese side dares to cross the line, even half a step, and cause problems for themselves, they will definitely pay a very expensive price," he added.

It is known that the democratically elected Taiwanese government rejected Beijing's territorial claims, saying that only the island's people could determine their future.

This week, Taiwanese President Lai Ching-te announced plans to budget an additional $40 billion for defense over the next eight years, which China has criticized as a waste of money that will only plunge Taiwan into disaster.

Responding to the criticism, Taiwan's Mainland Affairs Council spokesman, Liang Wen-chieh, said on Thursday the Bamboo Curtain country's defense budget was much larger than Taiwan.

"If they can prioritize cross-sate peace, these funds can also be used to improve the economy and livelihoods of the people on land," he explained.

"Both sides of the strait will not be like this, hostile to each other; it would be good for everyone," he said.

The Chinese military operates almost daily in the waters and skies around Taiwan, which the Taipei Government says is part of Beijing's intimidation and pressure campaign against it.