An escalating dispute between China and Japan has now spilled over to affect a third country, with Beijing announcing the suspension of the trilateral cultural ministers’ meeting involving China, Japan, and South Korea.
Chinese Consul General in Osaka Xue Jian threatened Japanese Prime Minister Takaichi by posting “cut the dirty neck” in a now-deleted X post. This came right after she warned in parliament on Nov. 7 that Beijing’s potential military steps toward Taiwan—such as a naval blockade—might endanger Japan’s very existence, thereby triggering Tokyo’s collective self-defense.
Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Mao Ning repeatedly called on Japan to immediately retract Takaichi’s “wrongful remarks.”
Japan’s Foreign Minister Motegi Toshimitsu said last week that there is no reason for the prime minister to withdraw what she said. He also said keeping an open dialogue is important.
On Thursday, Mao also reiterated that Chinese Premier Li Qiang did not have any plans to meet with Takaichi during the G20 summit in South Africa over the weekend.
Beijing informed Seoul on Tuesday that it is postponing—or temporarily suspending—the trilateral meeting of culture ministers from China, Japan, and South Korea, which had been set for Nov. 24 in Macao.
Prior to this latest escalation, Beijing had already intensified pressure on Japan through a series of measures. It imposed a ban on Japanese seafood imports, including scallops and tuna, officially citing safety screening concerns. Approvals for new Japanese films were also suspended. Additionally, Beijing issued strongly worded advisories urging Chinese tourists and students to avoid travel to Japan, warning of “serious safety risks.”
To ease tensions, Kanai Masaaki, director-general of the Japanese Foreign Ministry's Asian and Oceanian Affairs Bureau, met with his Chinese counterpart, Liu Jinsong, on Tuesday. However, the talks made little progress toward restoring bilateral relations between the two countries.
During the talks, Kanai lodged a strong protest against a social media post by Xue Jian and rejected China's travel advisory, refuting Beijing's claims about the "worsening security situation" in Japan.
To date, there have been no reports of major safety incidents involving Chinese citizens in Japan. On the contrary, China experienced consecutive incidents last year in which Japanese schoolchildren were stabbed and killed.
In June last year, a man attacked a Japanese mother and child, as well as a Chinese school bus attendant, with a knife at a bus stop in Suzhou city, resulting in one death and two injuries. Later, in September, a 10-year-old Japanese boy was stabbed by a man while on his way to school in Shenzhen city and died.
Regarding these two major incidents, the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs classified both as "isolated cases" and "random incidents," without fully disclosing the investigation results or the motives of the perpetrators.
Following the recent controversy, Japan's Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology has issued a safety advisory to Japanese attending schools in China, urging them to exercise caution, remain vigilant about personal safety, respect local laws and customs, and be mindful of their behavior in interactions with local residents.