(MENAFN) Approximately 100 demonstrators gathered outside Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi's official residence in Tokyo Saturday evening, escalating pressure for her immediate resignation in response to controversial statements on Taiwan and China.

The protesters voiced their opposition through placards and vocal demands, including "Takaichi step down" and "Those who cannot conduct diplomacy are unfit to be prime minister," signaling public rebuke of her recent policy pronouncements.

The controversy stems from Takaichi's remarks during a Nov. 7 Diet session, in which she stated that a Taiwan emergency involving the use of military vessels and military force from the Chinese mainland could constitute a "survival-threatening situation" for Japan. Under Japan's defense framework, such a determination would legally permit the nation's Self-Defense Forces to invoke collective self-defense rights.

Refusing to walk back her statements, Takaichi doubled down, asserting that her remarks were in line with the government's longstanding view, and she had no intention to retract the remarks.

The diplomatic fallout intensified when Chinese Ambassador to Japan Wu Jianghao convened with Japan's Vice-Minister for Foreign Affairs Takehiro Funakoshi on Friday, during which he lodged solemn representations and a formal protest over Takaichi's erroneous remarks regarding China.

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