China irate after Japan says it may help defend Taiwan

Chinese Communist Party leaders are fuming after Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi said her nation may militarily intervene if China tries to seize Taiwan. Such a move by China could be a “situation threatening Japan’s survival,” Takaichi said earlier this month. Japan’s Constitution bans it from using force to settle international disputes, but a law passed in 2015 allows “collective self-defense” in limited cases, even when Japan is not directly attacked. China’s Foreign Ministry responded yesterday by ordering Japan to “stop crossing the line and playing with fire, retract the wrongful remarks and deeds, and honor its commitments to China with real action.” The Chinese government has also advised its citizens against visiting Japan and called on Japan’s ambassador to China to condemn the remarks. Though China-Japan tensions are worsening, the Trumpet expects the two will eventually lay aside their differences and join forces in an alliance biblical prophecy calls “the kings of the east.”