Beijing: A pointed remark by Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi on the security implications of a Taiwan conflict has triggered one of the sharpest diplomatic flare-ups between China and Japan in recent years. What began as a policy explanation in Tokyo has rapidly escalated into a full-blown political, economic and security row — with both countries trading warnings, summoning diplomats and amplifying nationalist rhetoric. Foreign Ministry spokeswoman of China, Mao Ning, warned on Wednesday that if Japan refuses to withdraw Prime Minister Takaichi’s recent remarks about Taiwan, and if it persists in its wrongdoing, China will have no choice but to take severe and resolute countermeasures and all consequences arising from this will be borne by the Japanese side.

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