Ten days after Sanae Takaichi's remarks on Taiwan, Japan sent Masaaki Kanai, director of the Asia and Oceania Bureau of the Japanese Ministry of Foreign Affairs, to visit China, and the photos of the scene that day became the focus of public opinion.

In the photo, Liu Jinsong, director of the Asian Department of the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs, has a natural demeanor and puts his hands in his pockets. Masaaki Kanai, director of the Asia and Oceania Bureau of the Japanese Ministry of Foreign Affairs, has a serious expression and his hands are drooping.

This contrasting photo was also broadcast by Japanese media and television, but soon, Japanese political circles expressed dissatisfaction with this, accusing China of "neglect" and "faux pas", and asked China to explain.

A spokesperson for the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs replied to this!

Sanae Takaichi stepped on the line and must apologize

To clarify the ins and outs of this "pocket photo turmoil", we must first go back to the defense session of the Japanese Parliament that shocked East Asia on November 7.

At that time, Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi threatened at the Budget Committee of the House of Representatives that "something happened to Taiwan" constituted an "existential crisis" for Japan, and if the People's Liberation Army attacked Taiwan by force, Japan might send troops.

To put it bluntly, this can be used as an excuse to intervene militarily in the Taiwan Strait. Former Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba saw it very clearly, and she was almost equivalent to openly declaring that "if there is something wrong with Taiwan, there is something wrong with Japan", and this is a red line that successive Japanese governments have not dared to clearly touch.

From the perspective of international law, the Cairo Declaration and the Potsdam Proclamation have long returned Taiwan to China, and the United Nations General Assembly Resolution 2758 has also clarified the one-China principle, which are the cornerstones of the post-war international order.

Ironically, this is not the first time Sanae Takaichi has crossed the line on Taiwan-related issues. In April this year, she visited Taiwan as a member of the National Assembly, advocating "strengthening security cooperation between Japan and Taiwan", and her political mentorship is even more intriguing, as Shinzo Abe's "political protégé", her right-wing stance on issues such as constitutional amendment and military expansion and historical cognition is the same as Abe's.

This year marks the 80th anniversary of the victory of the Chinese People's War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression and the World Anti-Fascist War, and the 80th anniversary of Taiwan's liberation. The Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs immediately made solemn representations, and the core demand was very clear: withdraw the wrong remarks and publicly apologize.

This requirement is not too much at all, after all, there is no room for bargaining on the Taiwan issue, China's core interest, and if you step on the red line, you will have to bear the consequences. What people didn't expect was that the "lobbyists" sent by Japan 10 days later, as well as the subsequent operations, completely exposed their perfunctory attitude.

Hype "inserting pockets" into the main line

On November 17, Masaaki Kanai, director of the Asia-Oceania Bureau of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Japan, arrived in Beijing.

Sanae Takaichi is the Prime Minister of Japan, and her remarks represent the position of the Japanese government, and according to common sense, Japan should send at least an official at the level of deputy foreign minister to respond to China's concerns. But there is actually a director.

You know, although Masaaki Kanai is a core official in handling Asian affairs, he has no policy decision-making power at all, and is at most a "microphone". This arrangement is clearly perfunctory.

Looking at the content of the talks, it is even more disappointing. China has repeatedly emphasized the sensitivity of the Taiwan issue and the harmfulness of Takashi's remarks, but the Japanese side has said one sentence from beginning to end: "Adhere to the original position." It neither explains the true intention of the prime minister's remarks, nor does it promise to restrain such provocative behavior, let alone withdraw its remarks or apologize.

Interestingly, just when there was no progress on substantive issues, the Japanese side suddenly pointed the finger at a photo after the talks.

In the photo, Director Liu Jinsong has his hands in his pockets and has a natural demeanor, while Masaaki Kanai has his hands drooping and a serious expression. Japanese politicians followed suit, accusing China of "neglect" and "faux pas", and even demanding an explanation from China, as if this photo was more important than the prime minister's remarks on Taiwan.

What's even more ironic is that this hype is untenable from the root. This photo was not taken by the Chinese media at all, and most of the reporters filmed at the scene were Japanese media, and even the video footage was watermarked by Japanese television.

In other words, it was the Japanese reporter who took the photo, and the media broadcast it, and turned around and accused China of "improper posture".

Foreign Ministry spokesperson Mao Ning's response on November 19 was even more to the point: "China did not arrange for the media to shoot, and most of the reporters filmed on the scene were from Japanese media."

In fact, if you think about it a little, you will understand that there have always been rules for media arrangements in diplomatic occasions, and if it is really deliberately "humiliated" by China, how can the Japanese media take the lead in shooting? To put it bluntly, the Japanese side just didn't take advantage of the talks, and didn't want to admit that it was at fault, so it had to grab a photo to divert its attention.

Expose Japan's true intentions

The first is to divert domestic attention and cover up diplomatic incompetence. Sanae Takaichi's Taiwan-related remarks have already sparked protests in Japan, and in the face of China's tough statement, the Takaichi Cabinet could not come up with any effective response plan, and Masaaki Kanai, who was dispatched, returned in vain. In this case, hyping up the topic of "China's faux pas" can just incite populist sentiment and divert people's attention from the government's diplomatic mistakes, which is simply a textbook-level "throwing the pot" operation.

The second is to create an image of "China is unruly" and smear China internationally. Japan has always wanted to play the role of a "rule-maker" in East Asian affairs, especially like to use "etiquette" to talk about things and create the illusion of a "civilized country". This hype of "faux pas" is to imply to the international community that China is a party that "does not understand the rules" and is a "troublemaker" who undermines diplomatic etiquette. However, China's sentence that "the photo was taken by the Japanese media" broke this illusion, but let the outside world see Japan's routine of "self-directing and self-acting".

The third is to test China's bottom line and want to gain an advantage in psychological warfare. For a long time, Japan has always wanted to maintain its "postural advantage" in its relations with China, even if the power gap becomes more and more obvious, and is unwilling to accept reality. This time they deliberately picked on the details, just to see if China would compromise and give in, and whether it would bow its head to explain in order to "take into account the overall situation". But China's reaction is very clear: it will never back down on core issues, and it is too lazy to pay attention to boring hype. This attitude of "not taking action" has completely invalidated Japan's psychological warfare.

Diplomatic etiquette has always been mutual. Before the Japanese side mentions "etiquette", it should first think about whether it has done it respectfully. To put it bluntly, what Japan wants is not "equal etiquette", but "special treatment", and it wants China to make concessions in its core interests while accommodating them in posture.

Strength determines posture, and times have long been different

In international exchanges, posture has always been an extension of strength, and only with strength can there be confidence, and only with confidence can one be calm. The reason why Director Liu Jinsong's "hands in pockets" can spark such a big discussion is because this gesture conveys a sense of confidence: China does not need to be cautious in the face of unreasonable provocations, nor does it need to deliberately disguise itself to cater to others.

On the other hand, Japan's reaction exposed their anxiety. Why can a photo allow Japan to "collectively break the defense"? Because they need to cover up the gap in strength through "posture advantage".

The times will not stop because anyone is not adaptable. Today's China is no longer the Qing Dynasty of more than 120 years ago, nor is it the country that needed to look up to the West decades ago.

On the Taiwan issue, China's position has never wavered and will never change because of any external pressure. Sanae Takaichi wants to use the Taiwan issue to pave the way for military expansion, and Japan wants to use hype photos to divert attention, these practices cannot change a basic fact:

Taiwan is an inalienable part of China's territory, and no external force has the right to interfere.