Toru Hashimoto, referring to Prime Minister Koichi’s remarks about the Taiwan contingency due to the worsening Japan-China relations, said, “I see it as a negative thing.

　Former Osaka Mayor and lawyer Toru Hashimoto (56) appeared on Fuji Television’s “Sunday News THE PRIME” (7:30 p.m., Sunday) on March 14. He again referred to Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi’s (64) answer to the National Diet regarding the Taiwan contingency, in relation to the radar irradiation of Self Defense Force aircraft by Chinese Navy aircraft carrier Liaoning during landing and takeoff drills. In the afternoon of June 6, a Chinese fighter jet twice irradiated a Self-Defense Forces aircraft over the high seas of the southern island of Okinawa on the afternoon of June 6, while Japan-China relations were becoming increasingly tense following Prime Minister Takaichi’s comments regarding the Taiwan contingency . In response, Mr. Takaichi stated that the incident was “a dangerous act that exceeds the range necessary for the safe flight of aircraft,” and that he had lodged a severe protest with the Chinese side, demanding that they prevent a recurrence of the incident. The Chinese side, on the other hand, said that they had been notified of the training in advance, and countered that it had “seriously affected the normal training of the Chinese side. The Chinese Communist Party-affiliated newspaper, Huangyu Jiho, reported critically, “We will not tolerate Japan’s hit-and-run behavior. Hashimoto told former LDP Foreign Minister Taro Kono, who appeared as a guest, “What I would like to ask the LDP side is that the concept of an existential crisis situation that Mr. Takaichi mentioned can definitely be legally applicable. I would like to ask the LDP members, “What Mr. Takaichi said, the concept of an existential crisis situation is absolutely legally permissible, but I think that what you are saying here is what is happening now. Is this a positive or negative situation for Japan? I can only see it as a negative,” he said. Kono responded, “I think that the strained Japan-China relations that have spilled over into various areas are certainly a negative. Mr. Takaichi is right that this could become an existential crisis situation,” he replied, “but I don’t think it was really necessary to say that there.