appConfigEntityId

bodyType

customContents

entityId

entityUuid

isVideo

articlePageQuery

article

articleSchemaContent

content

hooksArticlePageAdvertisementConfigArticle

hooksArticlePageFloatingButtonConfigArticle

appConfig

filter

json

liveArticle

Luna Sun

China has called on the US to work together to prevent a resurgence of militarism in Japan, with Beijing signalling that more sanctions could be in the pipeline for Tokyo’s defence industry.
“Preventing militarism from harming the world again is in the common interest of both our countries [China and the United States],” Liu Pengyu, spokesman for the Chinese embassy in Washington, said in an article published in US-based Executive Intelligence Review earlier this week.
“We should rise above differences, cooperate with each other, and live up to our obligations as major countries ... and thwart any plot to revive the spectre of militarism.”
China and Japan have been embroiled in a diplomatic row since November when Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi suggested that a Taiwan contingency could warrant a Japanese military response, which Beijing views as crossing its red line.
Beijing has repeatedly said Taiwan is the core of its core issues. It views the island as part of China to be reunited by force if necessary. Most countries, including Japan and the United States, do not recognise Taiwan as an independent state, but Washington is opposed to any attempt to take the self-governed island by force and is committed to supplying it with weapons.
In the months since making the suggestion, Takaichi has refused to retract her comment and Beijing has taken a series of diplomatic and economic retaliatory actions.


Beijing has also stepped up warnings about Japan’s military expansion and renewed debate over its capacity to acquire nuclear weapons.
On Tuesday, China imposed a ban on exports of dual-use commercial and military goods to end users with links to the Japanese military. It was followed the next day by an anti-dumping investigation into a chipmaking material from Japan.
The precision of China’s export controls is aimed at Japan’s long-standing practice of “blurring the line between civilian and military sectors”, according to an article published on Friday by Yuyuan Tantian, a social media account run by state broadcaster CCTV.
“Tokyo has deliberately obscured its activities by embedding defence production within its civilian industrial system, with many key defence programmes planned by the defence ministry but outsourced to private contractors,” it said.
This system, the article argued, underpinned right-wing Japanese politicians’ claims that “a Taiwan contingency is a Japan contingency”, and reflected their ambition to resurrect militarism.
“China is now moving to cut off this support at its root,” it said, adding that China was using internationally recognised rules to contain Japan’s “remilitarisation” schemes and defend its national security and interests.
“China’s focus has extended beyond any single statement by Japan to the systemic and fundamental issues that have long persisted in the country.”


Beijing is also unnerved by the escalating nuclear ambition of Japan’s right-wing forces.
A senior Japanese official said last month that he believed Japan should have nuclear weapons, but Tokyo denied that the claim represented Japan’s official position.
In a report released earlier this week, a number of Chinese bodies called for the international community to “take concrete and strong measures” against these ambitions.
Japan “may already have produced weapons-grade plutonium in secret” and “has the technological and economic capabilities to achieve nuclear armament in a short period of time”, said the report, produced jointly by the China Arms Control and Disarmament Association and the Nuclear Strategic Planning Research Institute, a think tank affiliated with China National Nuclear Corporation.
According to Japanese media, Takaichi is planning to visit the US as early as March to meet US President Donald Trump on what would be her first trip to the country since taking office in October.
With a slim legislative majority, she was also weighing a snap general election to capitalise on her government’s approval ratings of around 70 per cent, media reports said.
An early election as well as a stronger parliamentary position could help solidify her mandate and help her navigate strained ties with China.


Red carpet vs empty tarmac: Xi’s US welcome fuels debate over Takaichi’s no-show reception

US tightens Japan, South Korea ties ahead of Trump-Xi summit

Shadow of Xi summit hangs over Trump’s high-stakes talks with Japan’s Takaichi

US, Japan and South Korea launch economic-security talks before Xi summit

China-Japan relations

China calls on US to form united front against Japanese militarism

China and the US should work together to thwart any plot to revive the spectre of militarism in Japan, according to a Chinese embassy official in Washington. Photo: Japan Ground Self-Defense Force

China’s Communist Party paper warns of Japanese militarism seeping into culture and sports

The controversial Rising Sun military flag is on display as people mark the 80th anniversary of Japan’s surrender in World War II, in Tokyo on August 15, 2025. Photo: Reuters 

A social media post shows Japanese international Kaoru Mitoma and a youth player posing with football cards depicting the image of a Japanese World War II soldier accused of war crimes. Photo: Handout

China’s diplomatic divide: red carpet for South Korea, cold shoulder for Japanese firms

A meeting between President Xi Jinping and South Korean President Lee Jae-myung is expected in the coming days. Photo: Shutterstock

President Xi Jinping shakes hands with South Korean President Lee Jae-myung on November 2. They are expected to meet again next week. Photo: dpa

China initiates anti-dumping probe against Japan over key semiconductor chemical

A worker is seen at a semiconductor factory in China’s Jiangsu province. Beijing has launched an anti-dumping investigation against Japan over a chemical used in chipmaking. Photo: AFP

Why the feud between Tokyo and Beijing could rage on for a while yet

Illustration: Lau Ka-kuen

Japanese Defence Minister Shinjiro Koizumi visits Ground Self-Defence Force units in Japan’s southwestern islands near Taiwan on November 23. Photo: Handout

Japanese F-15 fighter jets take part in a joint drill with US B-52 bombers over the Sea of Japan on December 10. Photo: Handout via Reuters

China sharpens criticism of Japan’s ‘neo-militarism’, warns of ‘dangerous signal’

Japanese ground troops take part in an exercise in Okinawa prefecture in June. Chinese state media says the resurgence of Japanese militarism has dealt a serious blow to bilateral relations and undermined regional peace and stability. Photo: AFP

Japanese Defence Minister Shinjiro Koizumi (back to camera) accompanies his Australian counterpart Richard Marles (far right) as they inspect a missile interceptor unit in Tokyo on December 7. Photo: Reuters

News

China

Diplomacy

Military

Tokyo is blurring the line between civilian and military sectors, undermining Beijing’s interests in Taiwan, state media account says


Tokyo is blurring the line between civilian and military sectors, undermining Beijing’s interests in Taiwan, state media account says.


China calls on US to form united front against Japanese militarism

.css-1c6uqr6{color:inherit;font-weight:inherit;font-size:inherit;font-family:inherit;line-height:inherit;overflow-wrap:break-word;}Tokyo is blurring the line between civilian and military sectors, undermining Beijing’s interests in Taiwan, state media account says

Tokyo is blurring the line between civilian and military sectors, undermining Beijing’s interests in Taiwan, state media account says