Beijing [China], December 15 (ANI): China announced on Monday that it has imposed sanctions on Shigeru Iwasaki, the former chief of the Joint Staff of the Japan Self-Defence Forces, accusing him of “colluding with separatist forces” in Taiwan.
Beijing had protested in March when Iwasaki was named an honorary adviser to the Executive Yuan, Taiwan’s highest administrative body. In a statement quoted by the state-run Global Times, the Chinese foreign ministry said the countermeasures include freezing Iwasaki’s movable and immovable assets and other property within China.
The measures also bar organisations and individuals in China from engaging in transactions, cooperation or other activities with him; prohibit issuance of visas to him; and deny him entry into the country, including the Hong Kong and Macao special administrative regions. The statement said the actions are taken under Articles 3, 4, 5, 6, 9 and 15 of the Anti-Foreign Sanctions Law of the People’s Republic of China.
Beijing regards Taiwan as a province of China. Earlier this year Iwasaki was appointed a political affairs consultant by Taiwan’s Cabinet. Japanese media report he served as chief of the Joint Staff of the Self-Defence Forces from 2012 to 2014.
Tensions between Tokyo and Beijing have grown since Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi’s November 7 remarks in Parliament that Japan could deploy forces in a hypothetical conflict in the Taiwan Strait. China stepped up diplomatic and economic pressure seeking a retraction of Takaichi’s comments, warned its citizens against travel to Japan, urged students to reconsider plans there, and reduced or suspended imports of Japanese seafood. Concerts and movie screenings featuring Japanese artists were cancelled, and Chinese Coast Guard and Navy vessels have transited waters around the Senkaku islands (administered by Japan; claimed by China as the Diaoyu islands). (ANI)
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