China urges Japan to refrain from taking petty actions over Tokyo's reported change of nationality entry
A Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson on Monday urged Japan to be cautious in its words and actions regarding the Taiwan question and avoid taking petty actions, following reports that Japan's Ministry of Justice will allow "Taiwan" to be listed as a place of origin on its family registry whereas residents from Taiwan island are currently registered as Chinese residents.
Bloomberg reported that under current rules, residents can only list nations as their place of origin, but the new change will allow for people to register regions such as Taiwan and Palestine as well, according to a public copy of the revision available on the Justice Ministry's website. Japan does not recognize Taiwan as a nation.
Taiwan is an inalienable part of China's territory, compatriots on both sides of the Taiwan Straits are all Chinese people, and Taiwan question is purely an internal affair of China that brooks no interference by any external forces, said Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Guo Jiakun, in response to a media inquiry on the matter.
Japan, which had committed aggression and conducted colonial rule over Taiwan island, bears a serious historical guilt toward the Chinese people. It should be all the more prudent in its words and actions. We urge the Japanese side to abide by the one-China principle and the spirit of the four China-Japan political documents, and to refrain from taking petty actions on the Taiwan question or sending contradictory and wrong signals, Guo said.
Bloomberg reported that Japan's Ministry of Justice described the revision as a mere technical adjustment.
Guo pointed out that Japan's adherence to the one-China principle and the spirit of the four China-Japan political documents constitutes a solemn political commitment from Japan.
"I would like to emphasize once again that the Taiwan question is purely an internal affair of China, which brooks no interference from any external forces."