Japan rejected a U.S. intelligence assessment

Japan rejected a U.S. assessment that its stance on how it might react to a potential Chinese attack on Taiwan marked a "significant shift" on Thursday, an issue that could cloud an imminent leaders' summit between Tokyo and Washington.



Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi's comments late last year that a hypothetical attack on Taiwan could bring about a military response from Tokyo drew a furious response from Beijing, which views the island as its own territory.



While Takaichi has maintained her remarks were in line with Japan's longstanding policies, an annual report by U.S. intelligence agencies on Wednesday said they sharply departed from the rhetoric of previous Japanese leaders.



"The assessment that there has been a major shift is not accurate," Japan's top government spokesperson Minoru Kihara told a press briefing on Thursday.

Tokyo's position of judging a so-called "existential crisis situation" - which Takaichi was being quizzed on in parliament when she made her November remarks on Taiwan - is consistent with the past, he added.



The differing views could cast a pall over Takaichi's summit with U.S. President Donald Trump on Thursday, already complicated by his demands for Japan and other allies to send escort ships to the Strait of Hormuz, largely closed by the Iran war.