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China and Japan Are at Odds Again 01/08 06:14
BEIJING (AP) -- They're at it again.
China and Japan -- frenemies, trading partners and uneasy neighbors with a
tortured, bloody history they still struggle to navigate -- are freshly at each
other's rhetorical throats as 2026 begins. And it's over the same sticking
points that have kept them resentful and suspicious for many decades: Japan's
occupation of parts of China in the 20th century, the use of military power in
East Asia, economics and politics -- and, of course, pride.
From insinuations that Chinese citizens face dangers in Japan to outright
accusations of resurgent Japanese imperialism, this first week of the year in
China has been marked by the communist government scorning Tokyo on multiple
fronts and noticeably embracing the visiting leader of another crucial
strategic neighbor: South Korea.
The latest chapter in Japan-China enmity surged In November when Japan's new
leader waded into choppy bilateral waters. She said, in effect, that if China
moved militarily against Taiwan, she wouldn't rule out involving Japan's
constitutionally defense-only military. That didn't go over well in Beijing,
which has teed off on Tokyo over the years for far less.
"Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi's erroneous remarks concerning Taiwan
infringe upon China's sovereignty and territorial integrity, blatantly
interfere in China's internal affairs, and send a military threat against
China," Foreign Ministry spokesperson Mao Ning said Wednesday, a week after
military exercises around the island ended. "We urge Japan to face up to the
root causes of the issue, reflect and correct its mistakes."
That's hardly uncommon language. China frequently demands Japan ponder the
path it has taken and correct its "erroneous" course. It's rhetoric, sure, but
it goes far deeper. And sometimes it's hard to tell what's real umbrage and
what's ginned up for domestic political consumption.
Because when it comes to the China-Japan relationship, anger remains a
powerful and enduring tool on both sides. And there's no indication that's
going away anytime soon.
A long history of antagonism
From the time Japan colonized Taiwan in 1895 after a war with Qing Dynasty
China, a deep suspicion and at times outright enmity has existed between the
two countries.
It worsened in the 1920s and 1930s after Japan's brutal occupation of parts
of China resulted in torture and deaths that Chinese resent to this day. At the
same time, Japanese leaders have sometimes thrown incendiary political
footballs like visits to the Yasukuni Shrine, a memorial to Japanese who gave
their lives in the nation's wars -- including some war criminals from the
Sino-Japanese wars. China, like clockwork, responds with indignation.
Japan lost World War II to the Allied powers and relinquished offensive
military powers under a U.S.-drafted constitution, even as the current
communist Chinese government was establishing the People's Republic in 1949.
Since then, any hint of Japanese military assertiveness has drawn great umbrage
here. Disputes over territory, such as an island chain called Diaoyu by China
and Senkaku by Japan, spike occasionally.
The enmity, pulled out when something is perceived as aggressive or anger is
required for a domestic audience, lurks barely beneath the surface, ready to
pop. Even today, cartoons circulate online in China depicting Japanese as
demonic, aggressive and anti-China.
This week has been an illuminating case study.
On Tuesday, China slapped restrictions on "dual-use exports" to Japan --
anything, it said, that Japan could adapt for military use. Though it didn't
specify what the ban includes, anything from drones to rare earths could be
considered dual-use. The lack of specificity allows China to adjust its
approach as it goes -- making it more or less strict depending on where the
political winds are blowing.
Japan demanded the move be rescinded. "These measures, which only target
Japan, deviate significantly from international practice," its Foreign Ministry
said, calling China's actions "absolutely unacceptable and deeply regrettable."
This came days after it protested Chinese mobile drilling rigs in the East
China Sea.
While the Chinese Commerce Ministry did not mention rare earths curbs, the
official newspaper China Daily, seen as a government mouthpiece, quoted
anonymous sources saying Beijing was considering tightening exports of certain
rare earths to Japan.
On Wednesday, the focus turned to a gas called dichlorosilane, used in
computer chip manufacturing. The Commerce Ministry said it had launched an
investigation into why the price of dichlorosilane imported from Japan had
decreased 31% between 2022 and 2024. "The dumping of imported products from
Japan has damaged the production and operation of our domestic industry," it
said.
Finally, on Thursday, China's Arms Control and Disarmament Association, a
nongovernment agency (inasmuch as any agency in China is nongovernmental)
released with some fanfare a report provocatively titled "Nuclear Ambitions of
Japan's Right-Wing Forces: A Serious Threat to World Peace." It spent 29 pages
outlining worries and accusations that Tokyo harbors dangerous nuclear
ambitions.
But it also went broader, invoking once again its stance that the nation's
right-wing leaders -- and, by extension, the whole country itself -- have
"failed to reflect on Japan's history of aggression."
"Japan has never been able to fully eliminate the scourge of militarism in
the country," the report said. "If Japan's right-wing forces are left free to
develop powerful offensive weapons, or even possess nuclear weapons, it will
again bring disaster to the world."
Enter Seoul
Also part of the equation this week: China's visible pivot to another
regional neighbor, South Korea, whose president spent four days in Beijing.
Seoul has a bumpy history of its own with Japanese aggression and also sporadic
-- though generally less intense -- friction with Beijing, a longtime supporter
and ally of its rival North Korea.
Chinese media gave splashy coverage to Lee Jae Myung's visit, touting new
Beijing-Seoul agreements on trade, environmental protection and transportation
-- and notably technology, given the dual-export ban. Also visible: Lee at two
business events watching major companies pledge increased collaboration. The
sides signed 24 export contracts worth a combined $44 million, according to
South Korea's Ministry of Trade, Industry and Resources.
The burst of official affection toward South Korea didn't stop with Lee.
While he was here, Chinese media reported that South Korea overtook Japan as
the leading destination for outbound flights from the mainland over New Year's.
That's on top of Beijing's recent efforts to discourage Chinese from traveling
to Japan, citing "significant risks to the personal safety and lives of Chinese
citizens" there.
For now, Japan-China tension remains a matter of rhetoric and policy. But no
one is predicting a quick resolution. With Japan's staunch ally, the United
States, planning to furnish more arms to Taiwan in a single sale than ever
before, there's too much at stake for both East Asian nations at this moment --
and too much contentious history -- for an easy and quick solution.
"This time ... de-escalation and a return to the status quo may not be as
easily achieved," Sebastian Maslow, an East Asia specialist and associate
professor of international relations at the University of Tokyo, wrote in The
Conversation last month. "With diplomatic channels in short supply and domestic
political agendas paramount, an off-ramp for the current dispute is not in
sight."
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