Japan-China Dialogue Necessary Due to ‘Pending Issues,’ Takaichi Said During Meeting with Xi

By Kenta Kamimura and Akiko Yoshinaga / The Yomiuri Shimbun Staff Writers

16:03 JST, November 1, 2025

GYEONGJU, South Korea — Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi and Chinese President Xi Jinping held their first meeting on Friday, where they confirmed the continuation of a “strategically mutual and beneficial relationship” between the two countries.

While China had been wary of Takaichi’s conservative political stance and there were fears that the meeting would not take place, both countries shared their intention to stabilize bilateral ties.

The meeting was held on the sidelines of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit in South Korea.

While Xi waited for Takaichi in front of both countries’ national flags, he held a stern expression. He had smiled when both leaders exchanged greetings at a separate venue, but his demeanor had changed. Takaichi held a similar expression at the outset of the talks, and referred to “existing concerns and challenges” between the two countries.

“I have always held conviction and decisiveness as my political creed. I wish to deepen the leader-to-leader relationship by repeatedly holding candid dialogue,” she told Xi.

While Xi praised Takaichi’s remark on promoting a strategically mutual and beneficial relationship between the two countries as “demonstrating that she places importance on the China-Japan relationship,” he did not show a smile until the very end. The venue was shrouded in a heavy atmosphere that starkly contrasted with the honeymoon-like scenes at the Japan-U.S. summit in Tokyo on Tuesday.

Nevertheless, Takaichi told reporters after the meeting: “It is precisely because there are pending issues that we need to talk often. With a stance of advancing cooperation that will benefit both sides, I would like to continue our dialogue.”

Laying the groundwork

During a week of summit diplomacy that began with ASEAN-related summit meetings held Sunday, just five days after being named prime minister, what Takaichi considered vital was realizing a meeting with Xi.

Japan has pending concerns with China, including one over the Senkaku Islands — part of Ishigaki, Okinawa Prefecture. As such, there were concerns that, “if relations with China, an important neighbor, become unstable, it will directly impact Japan’s security issues,” as a senior Foreign Ministry official put it.

China reportedly considers Takaichi a “leading figure of the conservative hawks,” according to the Global Times, which is affiliated with the Chinese Communist Party’s official newspaper. Therefore, there were even views within the Japanese government that realizing a meeting would be hard.

Amidst this, the prime minister worked to lay the groundwork for the meeting, including by refraining from visiting Yasukuni Shrine during its autumn festival. She also accepted a proposal for the meeting to be held at the Chinese side’s accommodation.

Ahead of her talks with Xi, Takaichi held meeting with the leaders of the Philippines, which has territorial disputes with China, and Australia, which is strengthening military cooperation with the United States.

There is a view among those close to Takaichi that her immediately establishing a good relationship with U.S. President Donald Trump, coupled with the high initial Cabinet approval ratings, “led to impatience on the Chinese side and became a decisive factor in realizing the meeting.” The Takaichi-Xi meeting was finalized immediately after the Japan-U.S. summit, despite the usual uncertainty in receiving a meeting with Xi even just before the agreed date.

A narrow path to success

Takaichi models her approach regarding diplomatic policy toward China on that of former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe. While he held conservative political philosophy, Abe first coined the term “strategically mutual and beneficial relationship.” He engaged in repeated leader-to-leader dialogue and improved Japan-China relations during the latter half of his second administration.

Abe’s first meeting with Xi took place about two years into his second administration. Late the previous year, Abe had visited Yasukuni Shrine, causing relations to freeze to such a point that the two countries were dubbed as being in a “Cold War.”

Despite this, a senior government official at the time expressed the view that “starting dialogue from rock bottom will make it easier to become future-oriented.”

If Takaichi visits Yasukuni Shrine after the latest meeting with Xi, however, China will inevitably refuse dialogue. Should that happen, the path to improving relations would vanish. A government official said, “Holding the meeting at an early stage also carries risks for both Japan and China.”

Among the conservatives supporting Takaichi, there are strong expectations that she will take a hardline stance toward China. The prime minister will likely have to make every effort to strike a balance in the days ahead.