Japan, Taiwan, and the unraveling of the post-WWII order

Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaishi’s recent remarks on Taiwan are not merely controversial; they strike at the heart of the post–World War II international order in Asia. By challenging the One-China policy, her comments implicitly question one of the foundational outcomes of Japan’s defeat in 1945 - that Taiwan, liberated from Japanese colonial rule, was returned to China.

This is not a semantic dispute. It is a direct challenge to the historical and legal settlement that underpinned peace in East Asia for decades.