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China issues strong protests, stern warnings in multiple channels after Japanese PM's provocations

Global Times

By Deng Xiaoci Published: Nov 16, 2025 11:16 PM

Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi's recent egregious remarks on Taiwan and her refusal to retract her erroneous statements after the incident, have triggered strong protest and stern warnings from several Chinese ministries and government agencies since November 14, showing what the Japanese media termed an "intensified stance" toward the country. And the sudden political flare-up ignited by the Japanese leader has started to weigh on Japanese society.

Chinese Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Mao Ning on Sunday posted four posters in English and Japanese on social platform X, quoting the Taiwan-related content from the 1972 China-Japan Joint Communiqué, reminding Japan that "irrespective of which administration is in office, Japan should honor its commitments."

On Sunday afternoon, Xinhua News Agency published its commentary on the incident, which is titled Takaichi's "survival-threatening situation" gambit thrusts Japan into perilous waters. By dragging the Taiwan question into Japan's already-contested security framework, Takaichi is deliberately blurring the boundary between defensive policy and outright militaristic adventurism, read the commentary.

The Xinhua piece said that [Takaichi's remarks] is "a reckless gambit that ignores Japan's constitutional limits, disregards public sentiment, and gambles with the security of the entire region."

"China has made preparations to carry out substantial countermeasures against Japan," read an article published on Saturday by yuyuantantian, a social media account affiliated to China's state broadcaster China Central Television (CCTV). The article stressed that "with regard to Sanae Takaichi's blatant provocative remarks, our patience has its limits."

The article lists moves Chinese side has taken since November 14, including a Chinese Foreign Ministry release at 2:56 am on Friday that upon instructions, Chinese Vice Foreign Minister Sun Weidong summoned the Japanese ambassador to China Kenji Kanasugi and that the Chinese Ministry of National Defense spokesperson issued a stern warning to Japan: should the Japanese side fail to draw lessons from history and dare to take a risk, or even use force to interfere in the Taiwan question, it will only suffer a crushing defeat against the steel-willed PLA and pay a heavy price.

And early on the morning of the Saturday, an article under the byline "Jun Sheng" titled "Japan will suffer unbearable price if it dares to intervene militarily in cross-Straits situation" was published on the front page of the People's Liberation Army Daily.

The China Coast Guard (CCG) formation 1307 on Sunday conducted a patrol in the territorial waters of China's Diaoyu Islands, the CCG announced. This is a rights-safeguarding patrol activity carried out by the CCG in accordance with the law, the CCG said in a statement.

Experts noted that a series of firm response from China demonstrates its resolve and capability to safeguard its national sovereignty, security, and development interests.

Profound impacts

Former prime minister Yoshihiko Noda, who heads the main opposition Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan, criticized Takaichi's parliamentary response on Sunday, saying "She went too far with her words, which has placed Japan-China relations in a grave situation. It was quite reckless," Mainichi Shimbun reported on Sunday.

"I think there are aspects where it is well-received among the Liberal Democratic Party's support base. However, I still think it's dangerous," Noda added.

Also, some Japanese politicians and media personality have been scapegoating Katsuya Okada of the main opposition Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan, accusing that it was his "relentless pressing" that has led to the prime minister's remarks and then China's countermeasures.

Okada posted on X a video on November 11 to explain his conversation with Takaichi at the Diet.

Kazuhiro Aoyama, a political reporter and former news ancho, criticized during a program on Kantele on November 14 that Okada is doing it knowing full well that eliciting the answer will cause problems. The way he asked was malicious, and such leading questions should be avoided on delicate topics like diplomacy and national security, he said during the show.

On Friday, both the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Chinese Embassy in Japan issued warnings, advising Chinese citizens to avoid traveling to Japan in the near future.

Japan Times took heed of the travel alert, while stating that Chinese visitors to Japan make up nearly a quarter of all foreign tourists, according to Japan Tourism Agency statistics, with nearly 7.5 million visitors from Chinese mainland traveling to the country in the first nine months of this year.

After the warning, multiple Chinese airlines including Air China, China Eastern Airlines, China Southern Airlines, Hainan Airlines, Xiamen Airlines, Spring Airlines, and Sichuan Airlines announced on Saturday special ticket-handling policies for flights involving Japan, allowing eligible passengers to change or refund their tickets free of charge.

The yuyuantantian article pointed out that due to Japanese government's wrong actions, the atmosphere surrounding personnel exchanges between China and Japan has worsened. The official diplomatic advisory issued by China indicates that the situation has been recognized by the government as posing a substantial threat, according the yuyuantantian article. "This is a concrete reflection of the negative spillover effects caused by the Japanese government's erroneous actions on Japanese society."

The spillover effects have further expanded on Sunday. China's Ministry of Education has also issued a warning regarding studying abroad on Sunday, noting the security situation and the environment for studying abroad are not favorable, and the safety risks for Chinese nationals in Japan are increasing. The Ministry of Culture and Tourism also issued a travel alert on Sunday.

Takahide Kiuchi, executive economist at the Nomura Research Institute, estimated that Chinese mainland's latest travel alert could cause economic damage of 2.2 trillion yen ($14 billion) to Japan, Kyodo reported on Sunday.

And in the same report, Kyodo also provided that as of May 2024, a total of 123,485 Chinese students were enrolled in universities and other educational institutions in Japan, including Japanese language schools, according to a survey by the government-linked Japan Student Services Organization.

"Takaichi should retract her erroneous remarks interfering in China's internal affairs, apologize to the Chinese government, and resign as prime minister," Yasukatsu Matsushima, a professor at Ryukoku University in Kyoto, told the Global Times. If she fails to do so, he warned, it will inflict irreversible negative consequences on Japanese society.

Matsushima noted that in the past, even when some Japanese politicians made provocative remarks, China generally responded with restraint and maintained a pragmatic and low-key policy toward Japan. But this time, Takaichi's comments touched on China's core interests, making it impossible for Beijing to ignore them, and sharply escalating tensions between the two countries.

On Saturday, more than 100 Japanese residents rallied in front of the prime minister's official residence in Tokyo to protest against the recent wrong remarks made by Prime Minister Takaichi on Taiwan, according to news dispatches from Tokyo by CCTV News and relevant information on X.

During the rally, protesters shouted slogans such as "Retract your remarks and apologize immediately," "Takaichi step down" and "Those who cannot conduct diplomacy are unfit to be prime minister" at the scene, CCTV reported from Tokyo.

The ultimate degree of escalation still hinges on the actions of Takaichi herself. If she further makes negative statements or takes negative actions on sensitive issues, a significant deterioration in China-Japan relations will become inevitable, Lu Hao, head of the Overall Strategy Section, Institute of Japanese Studies, Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, told the Global Times.

Lü Yaodong, with the Institute of Japanese Studies at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, told the Global Times that the overall rightward shift in Japanese politics has now been clearly demonstrated through the words of Takaichi.

The Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) and the Japan Innovation Party have formed a coalition government with certain shared positions. On issues involving China, they increasingly emphasize historical disputes, deny the history of aggression, and even glorify it, while hyping the "China threat" narrative, he said.

By disrupting the security environment in East Asia, Japan seeks to create conditions that allow it to break free from the constraints of its "Peace Constitution" and advance toward becoming a rearmed "war-capable" major power capable of exercising military force. This is something we must remain highly vigilant about, Lü warned.

Rightward shift alert

Shortly after hyping the so-called "survival-threatening situation," Takaichi was reportedly also considering reviewing the country's long-standing Three Non-Nuclear Principles, drawing fierce domestic backlash.

Just over a month into office, she has floated proposals for dramatic defense expansion, including a substantial military budget hike, full relaxation of arms-export controls, enhanced pre-emptive strike capabilities, and accelerated revision of security documents, with the most controversial being signs of a backtrack on Japan's long-standing "three non-nuclear principles," read the Xinhua commentary on Sunday.

Nobuko Motomura, a member of the Japanese Communist Party serving in the House of Representatives, wrote in a post on X on Saturday, calling Takaichi "the worst Prime Minister." She added that "Prime Minister Takaichi tramples underfoot the people whose lives were taken by the atomic bombings, those who survive but live in lifelong suffering, and the hibakusha who have continued to raise their soul's voice for many years, devoting their lives—we must force her to resign as soon as possible. It is simply too appalling."

Chinese Foreign Ministry Lin Jian expressed strong concern over Japan's recent moves during a regular press conference on Friday. He noted that "while Japan claims to be a peace-loving country and advocates a world free of nuclear weapons, the Sanae Takaichi administration has been making ambiguous statements about the Three Non-Nuclear Principles and implying the possibility of quitting the principles. Japanese senior officials even claimed that Japan has not ruled out the possibility of possessing nuclear submarines. These fully reveal that Japan is making a major negative policy shift, which sends a dangerous signal to the international community."

He continued to raised three pointed questions to Japan regarding its recent military and security activities. "Owing to these moves by Japan, its neighboring countries in Asia and the international community have to strongly call into question and worry about: Has Japan truly made a clean break with militarism? Is Japan sincerely committed to the exclusively defense-oriented policy and the Three Non-Nuclear Principles? Will Japan still act on its commitment to peaceful development?"

Commenting on Takaichi's remarks, Lin also warned on Thursday at the regular press conference that If Japan dares to attempt an armed intervention in the cross-Straits situation, it would be an act of aggression and definitely meet a firm response from China.