Thoughts on the Tokyo-Beijing Row – RedState

Beijing has been stepping up its threats directed at Tokyo. This comes after Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi said that an assault on Taiwan would pose a “survival-threatening situation” for Japan that may set off Tokyo to exercise its proper to collective self-defense, amid more and more assertive and frequent Chinese navy drills around Taiwan and in the East and South China Seas.

China’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA) later demanded that PM Takaichi retract her “egregious remarks,” which she rightly refused to do. 

China was cautious of PM Takaichi before she was even sworn in. Recall that instead of congratulating her on her win, Beijing despatched Tokyo a veiled warning. Beijing was ready for the proper second to lash out at Japan in an attempt to stymie the Takaichi administration’s China-focused overseas coverage agenda.

There are a few takeaways from this diplomatic row. But first, a recap of what China has carried out in retaliation is in order.

Most notably, the Chinese consul common in Osaka threatened to behead the Japanese prime minister. The Japanese authorities lodged a protest relating to the social media risk. Tokyo has yet to expel this “diplomat” (there may be nothing diplomatic about China’s diplomats).

The masks slips — again. Just a few months in the past, @xuejianosaka in contrast Israel with Nazi Germany. Now, he threatens Prime Minister @takaichi_sanae and the Japanese people. Time for Beijing to behave like the “good neighbor” it talks repeatedly about — but fails repeatedly to… pic.twitter.com/QslQqirtPO

— ジョージ・グラス駐日米国大使 (@USAmbJapan) November 10, 2025

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Not long after, China’s MFA and People’s Liberation Army Daily, Beijing’s official navy newspaper, threatened to break up open heads and flip Japan into a battlefield, respectively.

Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs is immediately threatening Japan with completely unhinged fascist rhetoric: “Their heads shall be break up open and they are going to be lined in blood in entrance of the Great Steel Wall that over 1.4 billion Chinese people constructed with their own flesh and… pic.twitter.com/kF87BUsYmp

— Drew Pavlou 🇦🇺🇺🇸🇺🇦🇹🇼 (@DrewPavlou) November 16, 2025

These threats have been paired with financial coercion. The Chinese authorities urged its nationals to keep away from touring to Japan. The Chinese embassy propagated this advisory via WeChat to Chinese nationals positioned on the island. Majority state-owned Air China also announced a discount in flights to Japan.

This will not be the flex Beijing thinks it’s. For years, Chinese vacationers have been nothing short of a headache for Japanese locals and the authorities. For instance, Chinese vacationers are infamous for harassing Nara Park’s well-known free-roaming deer. It’s no coincidence that 77 of the 88 foreigners injured by these “sacred” deer in 2017 have been Chinese nationals.

China also announced that it’s going to ban seafood imports from Japan, not long after it eased a 2023 ban. Taiwan immediately got here to Japan’s aspect. Taiwan President Lai Ching-te posted a photograph of himself eating sushi made with Japanese fish. Taipei lifted restrictions on all Japanese food imports and inspired its nationals to assist Japan by touring there and buying more Japanese merchandise.

きょうの昼食はお寿司と味噌汁です🍣👍#鹿児島産のブリと北海道産のホタテ pic.twitter.com/bww7iylzI4

— 賴清德Lai Ching-te (@ChingteLai) November 20, 2025

Taiwan has definitely not forgotten the time when the late Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe — Takaichi’s mentor — confirmed his assist for Taiwan by posing with Taiwanese pineapples, after China had banned pineapple imports from the self-governing island.

今日のデザートはパイナップル。とっても美味しそう。 pic.twitter.com/1uYuJX2qmY

— 安倍晋三 (@AbeShinzo) April 28, 2021

Armed Chinese Coast Guard vessels also entered Japanese territorial waters close to the Japan-administered Senkaku Islands — a clear instance of navy intimidation. 

We definitely can’t overlook Chinese state media retailers’ calls for nuclear strikes on Japan, either.

China proceeded to take its grievances to the UN, with Chinese diplomats insisting that Articles 53, 77, and 107 of the UN Charter — also recognized as the “enemy state” clauses — give Beijing “the right to take direct military action” against “fascist or militaristic states such as Germany, Italy, or Japan.”

PRC embassy in Japan is virtually invoking Article 53 on the “enemy state” in the UN Charter to issue a veiled warning to Japan of navy motion that may be undertaken by any UNSC P5 members (Beijing included) without the Council’s authorization. https://t.co/4eHhSh25eY https://t.co/cTijNcenS8 pic.twitter.com/ZBJFksgcrY

— Collin Koh 🇸🇬🇺🇦 (@CollinSLKoh) November 21, 2025

These clauses permitting unilateral enforcement motion are acknowledged as out of date and have fallen out of use, given that these enemy states are UN members. But however, the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) continues to manipulate worldwide law and intergovernmental organizations to additional its political and financial aims.

As ordinary, China is taking part in the sufferer while casting the precise victims, the free world, as the aggressors. This is a sport that communist China has mastered, a type of outlandish gaslighting blended with self-victimization. Beijing weaponizes historic reminiscence of the Century of Humiliation (1839-1949) — a period when China misplaced large areas of its land to overseas powers, including Japan — to legitimize its responses to what it labels Western “bullying” and “aggression” — basically something the CCP believes challenges its regional and global ambitions.

Some would possibly argue that China’s deflationary disaster, demographic troubles, growing unrest, and rising youth unemployment, among other points, will push the CCP to use navy power in the close to future. It can also be argued that these home insecurities, along with the Trump administration’s eye on the Indo-Pacific and the PLA’s lack of fight expertise, could lead Beijing to forgo standard warfare. 

What we are able to anticipate is for issues to worsen before they get better. China will continue its unprecedented navy buildup and saber-rattling in order to intimidate Japan and other U.S. allies in the area. Beijing will double down on its wolf warrior diplomacy and grey zone techniques like financial coercion, info operations, cyber-attacks (which may depart Japan’s protection systems and vital infrastructure weak), and presumably cable-cutting actions. It’s about profitable a warfare without having to fire a single bullet.

At the same time, the CCP is appearing against its own pursuits. China’s open hostility toward Tokyo only works to increase the Takaichi administration’s overseas coverage agenda, proving to the Japanese public — as properly as to other nations in the area — Beijing’s willingness to aggressively punish a sovereign nation for actions that the CCP views as undermining its agenda.

Although the overwhelming majority of the Japanese public already views China negatively, Beijing’s actions could push more people to assist Takaichi’s plan to bolster Japan’s defenses and revise Article 9 of the structure, which lays the groundwork for a purely defensive navy.

Given that a full-scale armed battle can’t be taken off the desk, Tokyo, Washington, and regional allies could have to continue to increase deterrence. The Takaichi and Trump administrations seem to be dedicated to this.

Japan’s protection minister lately announced plans to deploy medium-range surface-to-air missiles to Yonaguni Island, 110 km (68.3 mi) from Taiwan’s coast. Beijing criticized this plan as “extremely dangerous,” likening the Takaichi administration’s (“right-wing forces”) actions to Imperial Japan’s ambitions (again, the weaponization of historical past).

The State Department reaffirmed Washington’s dedication to the U.S.-Japan alliance, and communication between President Trump and PM Takaichi stays strong and candid.

Aside from that, in response to the Chinese navy’s intimidation, the U.S. and Japan carried out a joint navy exercise over the East China Sea, that includes two B-1B bombers, 12 F-35As, two F-2s, and 4 F-15s. American, Japanese, Philippine forces also held the largest joint naval patrol in the South China Sea, a major geopolitical flashpoint, in years. 

The Trump administration would possibly need to contemplate re-deploying the Typhon missile system to Japan as soon as doable. Its SM-6 and Tomahawk missiles are succesful of reaching a large portion of japanese China when launched from Japan.

It’s equally elementary that we, Japan, and our other allies strengthen our collective capabilities to counter China’s gray-zone techniques that search to sow chaos, compromise defenses, and weaken alliances. Unrestricted warfare is central to China’s navy strategy.

China has long used its “diplomats” to steal mental property and spy. They also make use of some of the most violent wolf warrior techniques, as the Japanese case demonstrates, and play a vital position in the CCP’s global transnational repression marketing campaign and affect operations. Chinese embassies serve as CCP outposts. It is time for nations to start expelling these “diplomats,” as Lithuania did.

And if China desires to be handled like a regular nation, it’s going to have to start adhering to its Five Principles of Peaceful Coexistence.

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