Defense & Security

Japanese Foreign Ministry Refutes Chinese Embassy’s X Post over U.N. Charter Enemy States Clauses

Yomiuri Shimbun file photo
The Foreign Ministry in Chiyoda Ward, Tokyo

The Yomiuri Shimbun

13:19 JST, November 24, 2025

The Foreign Ministry on Sunday refuted a post on X by the Chinese Embassy in Japan which stated China can take military action against Japan under the so-called enemy states clauses in the United Nations Charter.

Regarding the clauses, which stipulate that founding U.N. member nations can take enforcement actions against countries defeated in World War II, the ministry countered that the enemy states clauses have already become “obsolete.”

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The Chinese Embassy on Friday posted that if former enemy states including Japan reimplement an aggressive policy, the founding U.N. members including China “shall have the right to take … enforcement actions without prior authorization from the UN Security Council.”

The ministry said in Sunday’s post that a resolution recognizing the so-called enemy states clauses “as obsolete was adopted” at the 1995 U.N. General Assembly “with China itself casting a vote in favor.”

The ministry’s post criticized the Chinese side saying, “Posting information implying that obsolete clauses remain in effect is incompatible with decisions already made at the United Nations.”