BEIJING: China is firmly opposed to the U.S. arbitrary levy of tariffs to hold back Chinese industries groundlessly, a Foreign Ministry spokesperson said on Wednesday at a regular press briefing.

Lin Jian made the remarks after the United States announced plans to impose tariffs on China’s semiconductor industry, set to take effect in 2027.

“What the U.S. has done will disrupt the stability of global production and supply chains and impede the development of semiconductor industries of all countries. This will not only boomerang on itself but also bring harm to others,” he said.

China urged the U.S. to correct its wrongdoing as soon as possible, follow the important common understandings reached by the two heads of state, address their respective concerns through dialogue, and properly manage differences on the basis of equality, respect, and mutual benefit to maintain the stable, healthy, and sustainable development of China-U.S. relations, Lin noted.

“If the U.S. keeps refusing to change course, China will resolutely take corresponding measures to safeguard its legitimate rights and interests,” Lin added.

Japanese official’s nuclear weapons remarks ‘not isolated’

The recent remarks on possessing nuclear weapons by a senior Japanese official are by no means an isolated incident, exposing the consistent erroneous stance of Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi and Japan’s right-wing forces, and sending an extremely dangerous signal, a Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson said on Wednesday.

Lin Jian made the remarks at a regular news briefing in response to a query about a senior official from the Japanese prime minister’s office brazenly claiming that Japan should possess nuclear weapons.

Lin noted that in recent years, Japan has removed the ban on exercising the right to collective self-defense, developed intermediate-range offensive weapons, increased military deployment, restructured the command systems, and expanded the area and scope of Self-Defense Forces activities.

“This amounts to a severe violation of provisions in instruments with legal effect under international law, including the Cairo Declaration and the Potsdam Proclamation, and of Japan’s own Constitution,” he said.

Only two months into office, Takaichi has accelerated military buildup, hit the defense-spending target of two percent of GDP two years early, further relaxed restrictions on arms exports, pushed forward the revision of the three documents on security and defense, including National Security Strategy, discussed the revision on the three non-nuclear principles, and implied the introduction of nuclear-powered submarines, said the spokesperson.

Noting that the remarks of the Japanese official – supposedly someone close to the Japanese prime minister – came on the heels of Takaichi’s erroneous remarks on Taiwan, Lin said this is yet another attempt by the Japanese side to intentionally test the bottom line of the international community, revealing the long-standing wrongful proposition and ambition of Takaichi and Japanese right-wing forces to keep remilitarizing Japan.

“It sends an extremely dangerous signal,” he said, adding that these moves challenge the post-war international order, threaten regional peace and stability, and do not serve the interests of the Japanese people.

China and all other peace-loving countries will respond to those developments together and firmly prevent the resurgence of Japanese militarism, he said.