Japan’s Government Monitors China’s Propaganda Battle Over Takaichi’s Taiwan Contingency Remark

By Yujiro Okabe and Akiko Yoshinaga / Yomiuri Shimbun Staff Writers

21:00 JST, November 19, 2025

The Japanese government sees China waging a propaganda battle as the Chinese side reiterated its strong condemnation of a remark by Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi over Taiwan. The latest condemnation came at a meeting of foreign ministry bureau chiefs of the two countries in Beijing on Tuesday.

The Japanese government assumes the Chinese side aims to get the upper hand concerning the Taiwan issue through propaganda.

Determined to face what may be a prolonged confrontational situation, the government is ready to respond in a cool-headed manner.

On Tuesday evening, China Central Television aired a video clip in which Liu Jinsong, director general of the Chinese Foreign Ministry’s Department of Asian Affairs, and Masaaki Kanai, director general of the Japanese Foreign Ministry’s Asian and Oceanian Affairs Bureau, appeared at the entrance of the Chinese Foreign Ministry building after their meeting.

In the video image, Liu spoke to Kanai with his hands in his pockets and a grim expression on his face.

Airing the scene seemed to aim to give the impression that the Chinese side had summoned the Japanese official and lodged a protest.

The remarks at issue were made by the prime minister on Nov. 7 during a Diet session, in response to a question by an opposition lawmaker. Takaichi said that a sea blockade around Taiwan by China “would constitute a survival-threatening situation” for Japan.

Subsequently, Takaichi said she would not retract her remark. But she also tried to calm the controversy by saying she would “reflect” on her remarks having gone too deeply into a specific assumption.

Chief Cabinet Secretary Minoru Kihara, with a 1972 Japan-China joint statement in mind, also said at a press conference that Japan’s stance on Taiwan “has not changed.” He has reiterated that Japan aims to support a peaceful solution between Beijing and Taipei.

Despite such follow-up remarks from Tokyo, Beijing has not laid down its rhetorical arms and appears to regard Takaichi’s remark in the Diet as a suggestion of Japan’s intervention into the Taiwan issue with military force.

If Takaichi does not retract the remark, Chinese Vice Foreign Minster Sun Weidong warned, “The Japanese side should take all the responsibility.”

The Chinese side is waging its campaign as if Japan had unilaterally raised the tension about the Taiwan issue.

A senior official of the Japanese Foreign Ministry said China’s attitude is the fiercest it has been since 2012, when Japan nationalized the Senkaku Islands in Okinawa Prefecture. The official added, “It seems they have decided to thoroughly condemn Japan.”

In 2012, as China made it routine for its ships to intrude into Japanese territorial waters around the Senkaku Islands, China said that Japan solely bore responsibility for the situation.

Also this time, it is possible that China aims to lower trust in Japan and strengthen pressure on Taiwan.

About the two officials’ meeting in Beijing, some lawmakers including Liberal Democratic Party members criticized the government, asking whether Kanai was going to attend the meeting to apologize to the Chinese government. The Japanese government emphasized that the meeting was merely a regularly scheduled one.

As conservative Japanese people who support Takaichi demand that the government should take a resolute diplomatic attitude toward China, a government source said, “Time is needed to change China’s attitude while carefully responding, so that we do not give a pretext for escalation.”