Japan will suffer a "crushing defeat" by the Chinese military if it tries to use force to intervene over Taiwan, China's defence ministry said on Friday, ramping up the rhetoric over Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi's remarks about the island.

The likeliest scenario for 2026 is not a full-fledged conflict, but an increase in China’s political, economic and military pressure against Taiwan

Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi said a Chinese attack on Taiwan could constitute “a survival-threatening situation” for Japan, drawing sharp criticisms from Beijing.

Japan is trying to revive its wartime militarism and risks repeating the mistakes of history with Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi's remarks on Taiwan, the official newspaper of China's ruling Communist Party said on Friday.

Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi angered Beijing by saying that a Chinese attack on Taiwan could be a “survival-threatening situation” and bring a military response from Tokyo.

Heavyweights clash as election of hawkish PM Sanae Takaichi and US policy unpredictability change calculus in region

It all started when Japan's new Prime Minister, Sanae Takaichi, suggested that if China attacked Taiwan then Japan could respond with its own self-defence force. Since then, foreign ministries on both sides have lodged serious protests with the other, and a Chinese diplomat made what some interpreted as a threat to behead Takaichi.

Sanae Takaichi had said that any Chinese military move against Taiwan ‘could allow Japan to exercise its right to collective self-defense’ - Anadolu Ajansı

Beijing made "serious demarches" over Japanese PM Sanae Takaichi’s remarks regarding China. Read more at straitstimes.com. Read more at straitstimes.com.

The diplomatic row comes after Japanese Prime Minister Takaichi said Japan may intervene if China blockades Taiwan.