After Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi hinted at involvement in the Taiwan issue and China began economic pressure on Japan, China issued a strong warning as no message to ease tensions came from Takaichi's side, saying, "Those who play with fire will ultimately find themselves engulfed by even bigger flames."
On the 20th, China's state-run Global Times said this in an editorial titled "Japan will pay a higher price if it does not correct its mistake." The editorial said, "On the Taiwan issue, China has no room for any compromise or retreat. If the Japanese side ultimately does not retract its mistake and even continues provocative actions, China has ample reason and need to take stronger countermeasures."
The editorial reaffirmed the stance that it would not back down without a retraction of Takaichi's remarks or an equivalent apology. The editorial said, "Japan is evading the essential problem of (Prime Minister Takaichi's) remarks," and added, "The Taiwan issue is not a stage for Japan to put on diplomatic gestures. Nor is it a geopolitical card that can be manipulated at will." It continued, "The attempt to wedge the Taiwan issue into a narrative of Japan's existential crisis violates the political foundation of China-Japan relations and drags itself into a geopolitical clash it cannot bear."
The editorial stressed, "The most direct and effective way to keep the situation from sinking deeper into a quagmire is for Prime Minister Takaichi to retract the remarks as soon as possible, stop actions that keep provoking China-related issues, and correct the mistake through concrete actions to return bilateral relations to a controllable track." It added, "If China's 'red line' is touched, the losses will be borne by Japan, and the sacrifices will ultimately fall on ordinary citizens and small and midsize companies. The fictitious narrative of 'political correctness' created by Japan's right wing cannot come before Japan's national interests, nor should it shake the broader stability of China-Japan relations."
Earlier, on the 7th, Prime Minister Takaichi linked a "Taiwan contingency" to a "situation threatening Japan's survival" during remarks at the House of Representatives Budget Committee. By saying that if China attempts to seize Taiwan and the United States intervenes, Japan could also use force alongside it, the possibility was formalized. It was the first time a sitting Japanese prime minister had made such remarks, which was soon interpreted as a high-level offensive against China.
Foreign media assessed that Takaichi's remarks departed from the "ambiguous stance" Japan has traditionally taken. The BBC in the United Kingdom said, "Hoping for a peaceful resolution through dialogue has been the Japanese government's official position on the Taiwan issue, and Japan has also maintained a strategically ambiguous stance on Taiwan's status," adding that this was to leave room for economic cooperation with China, but that Takaichi broke this framework.
China immediately pushed back against Takaichi's remarks and demanded a retraction. But as no apology came from the Japanese side, it recently issued measures such as advising its citizens to refrain from travel and study in Japan and halting screenings of Japanese films in China. The day before, it again suspended imports of Japanese seafood that had only resumed this month after persistent requests from Japan. According to Japan's Kyodo News, talks to resume exports of Japanese beef were also recently suspended at China's request.
As anxiety over China-Japan tensions rose, economic effects became visible, including a steep decline in Japanese stocks and Government Bonds. Due to the Chinese government's advisory for its citizens to refrain from traveling to Japan, hundreds of thousands of airline tickets to Japan have already been canceled, and travel packages are being canceled en masse. China is the largest source of tourists to Japan, and Chinese tourists were projected to spend a total of 19 trillion won in Japan this year. Some analyses said Japan's gross domestic product (GDP) could fall 0.29% within a year due to the heightened China-Japan tensions.