As China began sanctions, including banning imports of Japanese seafood, after Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi hinted at "intervening in Taiwan," the Ministry of Foreign Affairs emphasized that Takaichi's remarks sparked public outrage among Chinese people.
Mao Ning, Spokesperson for China's Ministry of Foreign Affairs, said at a regular briefing on the 19th, "Japan previously pledged to fulfill its responsibility to monitor seafood exported to China to ensure quality and safety," and added, "This is a precondition for exporting Japanese seafood to China, but Japan currently cannot provide the promised technical documents."
Mao continued, "What I want to stress is that recently Prime Minister Takaichi went against the tide and made wrong remarks on major issues such as Taiwan, which triggered intense public outrage among the Chinese people," adding, "In the current situation, even if Japanese seafood were exported to China, there would be no market for it."
Earlier, in Aug. 2023, when Japan discharged contaminated water from the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant, China imposed a blanket ban on imports of Japanese seafood and, in response to Japan's repeated requests, resumed some seafood imports on the 5th of this month. At the same time, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said it would restrict imports if risk factors were detected, but roughly two weeks after exports resumed, imports were suspended, citing Prime Minister Takaichi's remarks on Taiwan.
On the 7th, in the House of Representatives (lower house), Prime Minister Takaichi, the first sitting Japanese prime minister to do so, made remarks to the effect that a "contingency in Taiwan" would constitute a "survival-threatening situation" under which Japan could exercise the right of collective self-defense, drawing China's outrage. Since then, China has been leveling daily criticism, and when Takaichi did not retract the statements, it advised its citizens to refrain from traveling to and studying in Japan and from exchanges.