As President Lee Jae-myung pays a state visit, China, which is tightening sanctions on Japan, is using state media to highlight progress in building trust with Korea while unleashing sharp criticism of Japan, saying it is "aggravating its own crisis with strategic shortsightedness and rashness." After Japan pushed back against China's rare earth export ban, China stepped up pressure, likening Japan's reaction to "a thief shouting to distract others."
China's state-run Xinhua News Agency, in an editorial on the night of the 7th, looked back on the results of the Korea-China summit, saying they showed that "China-Korea relations are moving in a stable, long-term direction," and called Korea a "friend and neighbor." It added that "dense exchanges between leaders sent a clear signal not only to both countries but also to the region and the international community," citing strengthened mutual trust and expanded practical cooperation as key outcomes.
Around the same time, state-run Global Times ran an editorial strongly criticizing Japan. Earlier, China took issue with Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi's remarks about "intervening in the event of a Taiwan contingency" and on the 6th announced a ban on exports to Japan of dual-use items and said it would hold third parties legally responsible if they deliver such items to Japan. The dual-use items China released for 2026 include 1,000 products such as rare earths, chemicals and drones. After the 2010 Senkaku Islands dispute, Japan reduced its dependence on China, but it is said to remain highly dependent on Chinese rare earths in the electric vehicle sector.
Then, on the 7th, China also said it would launch an anti-dumping investigation into Japanese semiconductor manufacturing chemicals. Measures against Japan that began with advising its citizens to refrain from travel to Japan, halting screenings of Japanese films, and resuming a ban on imports of Japanese seafood are now spreading to high-tech industries.
When Japan protested that the moves "departed from international practice" and were "absolutely unacceptable," the editorial retorted that it was "like a thief shouting," and criticized that a response that "only calculates 'economic small considerations' while ignoring 'political big considerations' reveals the fundamental shortsightedness of Japan's perception."
The editorial said, "In recent years, Japan has followed the U.S. lead in imposing export controls on semiconductors to China. When it placed a large number of Chinese entities on its export control list without any factual basis, did it ever invoke international practice? Now that it is being controlled, to prattle on about 'free trade' is an extremely hypocritical double standard."
It continued, "In recent years, Japan has charged ahead on the path of expanding armaments and preparing for war. The 2026 defense budget again hit a record high, and by developing offensive weapons and arming the southwestern islands, it did not hide its intent to target China in the slightest," adding, "Against this backdrop, the risk that many key items, including rare earths, will be turned into lethal weapons has risen sharply. China's control measures are a natural step to safeguard national sovereignty, security and development interests."
It went on to warn that the Takaichi cabinet's China policy is "shortsighted and rash," and that whether China-Japan relations can escape the current predicament and resolve the "crisis with fire at its feet" depends on whether Japan is willing to abandon confrontational thinking and present sincerity and concrete actions.