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After call with China, Trump 'advises Takaichi not to provoke China' on Taiwan; Japanese PM's office declines to comment: media

Global Times

By Global Times Published: Nov 27, 2025 06:22 PM

Multiple Japanese media outlets reported that when asked whether she had discussed the Taiwan question with US President Donald Trump during their recent call, Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi dodged the question. Meanwhile, the Wall Street Journal reported on Thursday that after a China-US phone call initiated by Washington on Monday evening, Trump soon phoned Takaichi and, days after she "outraged China," advised her not to provoke Beijing over Taiwan's sovereignty.

According to the Wall Street Journal, "the Japanese officials said the message was worrying," although "the advice from Trump was subtle, and he didn't pressure Takaichi to walk back her comments," because "Trump had been briefed on her domestic political constraints," per the report.

Asked about the exchange with Takaichi, the White House reaffirmed Trump's previous statement which emphasized the US relationship with China is very good and that's also very good for Japan. The Japanese prime minister's office declined to comment, according to the Wall Street Journal.

The report citing analysts reported that the sequence of the calls—China first, then Japan—could reflect a willingness by Trump to curb an ally's controversial stance on a core geopolitical issue in service of the US trade relationship with Beijing.

The Wall Street Journal quoted Matthew Goodman, a former Obama administration Asia specialist who focuses on geoeconomic studies at the Council on Foreign Relations, as saying that "the order of the calls is interesting and likely raised some eyebrows in Tokyo."

"China is the constant. Japan is the echo. The US is the weather. And nothing exposes this hierarchy more clearly than a few quiet phone calls," commented Corrine, a blogger with 37,600 followers on X on Tuesday.

Takaichi claimed at a Diet meeting on November 7 that the Chinese mainland's "use of force on Taiwan" could constitute a "survival-threatening situation" for Japan. She refused to retract her erroneous remarks which imply the possibility of armed intervention in the Taiwan Straits. These claims immediately triggered strong criticism from legal scholars, anti-war organizations, opposition parties and political figures, including former Japanese prime ministers Shigeru Ishiba, Yoshihiko Noda, and Yukio Hatoyama.

In a debate in Japan's Parliament, Takaichi said Wednesday she hadn't planned to get specific on Taiwan contingency, comments that some analysts see as a softening signal, Wall Street Journal's report noted.

For China and the US, the two main victorious countries of World War II, the timely alignment of positions by the leaders of China and the US at this critical moment is key to curbing external provocations and ensuring that the regional order advances in a direction consistent with the interests of the overwhelming majority of countries, Li Haidong, a professor at China Foreign Affairs University, told the Global Times on Tuesday.

In response to a question that it is reported that US President Donald Trump had requested the Japanese prime minister to tone down remarks related to the Taiwan question and whether the reported matter is influenced by the recent China-US leaders' phone call, Guo Jiakun, spokesperson from China's ministry of foreign affairs said on Thursday that communication between the US and Japanese leaders is a matter between those two countries, and China has no comment on that. He stressed that the Taiwan question is China's internal affair that brooks no interference by any external forces.