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China-Japan relations

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China-Japan relations
Breaking news and analysis on China-Japan relations, covering trade, investment, the legacy of war in Asia, military tensions and the impact of wider issues such as the US-China trade war and South China Sea.
Open Questions series

Zheng Yongnian on what US’ ‘neocolonialism’, Venezuela operation mean for China

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Illustration: Victor Sanjinez

Liu Qian on Chinese innovation, the US rivalry and women holding up half the sky

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Illustration: Victor Sanjinez Garcia

Fuchsia Dunlop tells how she fell for China’s cuisine and names her perfect dish

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Illustration: Lau Ka-kuen

80 years on from WWII, China’s interests lie in peaceful Asia-Pacific: Mitter

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Illustration: Lau Ka-kuen

‘Delusional’: Jeffrey Sachs on why Western hegemony has ended

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Illustration: Henry Wong

Scholar Jing Qian on right-sizing China’s economy in the age of Trump

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Illustration: Lau Ka-kuen

Zheng Yongnian on what US’ ‘neocolonialism’, Venezuela operation mean for China

videocam
15
Illustration: Victor Sanjinez

Liu Qian on Chinese innovation, the US rivalry and women holding up half the sky

7
Illustration: Victor Sanjinez Garcia

Fuchsia Dunlop tells how she fell for China’s cuisine and names her perfect dish

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5
Illustration: Lau Ka-kuen

80 years on from WWII, China’s interests lie in peaceful Asia-Pacific: Mitter

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18
Illustration: Lau Ka-kuen

‘Delusional’: Jeffrey Sachs on why Western hegemony has ended

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93
Illustration: Henry Wong

Scholar Jing Qian on right-sizing China’s economy in the age of Trump

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Illustration: Lau Ka-kuen
MORE FROM THIS SERIES
A Japanese research vessel leaves a port in Shizuoka prefecture to collect rare earth mud off Minamitorishima Island in January. Photo: Kyodo
Japan

To cut reliance on China, Japan eyes bespoke ship for rare earth extraction

Tokyo also aims to become a major global supplier despite the project facing technological, cost and geopolitical hurdles.

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China trade

Sino-Japanese relations

The People’s Liberation Army (PLA)

Are China and Russia flexing their maritime muscle near Japan?

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Sanae Takaichi

China condemns Japan’s first overseas ‘offensive missile’ test since WWII

Beijing says Japan’s ‘neo-militarism’ is a ‘scourge’ that threatens regional peace and stability.

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A Japanese Type 88 surface-to-ship missile is launched during the Balikatan joint drill in the Philippines on May 6, 2026. Photo: AFP
Japan

Opinion | The domestic dynamics driving Japan’s remilitarisation

Sanctions, diplomatic warnings and aggressive rhetoric create a perilous loop, reinforcing the very domestic tendencies China seeks to deter.

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Rare earths

Takaichi signs Australia deals to boost Japan’s energy security

Japan’s prime minister penned agreements with her Australian counterpart as the two nations seek to pare reliance on Chinese rare earths and safeguard energy supplies amid the war in Iran.

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Self-Defence Forces (Japan)

Why is China warning the UN of a Japanese ‘nuclear breakout’?

Beijing asks the international body to prioritise Tokyo’s ‘dangerous tendency to seek nuclear weapons’ as regional row escalates.

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A new position paper from China’s foreign ministry accuses Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi of engaging in “probing and provocative remarks and actions” on nuclear weapons. Photo: Kyodo
Hong Kong

In a fragmenting global order, former Japanese leader urges pivot to China

Yukio Hatoyama says the two powers should work together against ‘US arrogance’ and expand coalitions with like-minded nations.

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Japan

As I see it | A remilitarised Japan threatens more than just China

As Japan expands its defence posture with the backing of major allies, its leaders seek to portray Beijing’s objections as an overreaction.

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Taiwan

Japan’s revised security policy to get ‘more aggressive’: Chinese expert

Rewritten policies could even include changes to nuclear weapons stance, analyst says.

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Japanese air force officers stand beside the national flag. Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi has argued that the country must boost its defence capabilities amid “an increase in the military power of China” and “strengthening cooperation” between Beijing and Moscow. Photo: EPA
China's military weapons

PLA showcases YJ-20 anti-ship missiles as US-Japan-Philippines test war moves

Video of PLA Navy strike tests emerges as US, allies take part in Balikatan 2026, marking Japan’s first-ever operational role in the drills.

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China’s YJ-20 hypersonic anti-ship missile system has a range of 1,000 to 1,500km, a cruising speed of around Mach 6 and a terminal dive speed reaching Mach 10. Photo: Handout
China’s navy

Warning over Taiwan? PLA warships make rare transits off southwest Japan

‘Rare passage is a direct deterrent’ to the Japanese military bases along the coast, former PLA instructor says.

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China travel

2,700 China-Japan flights axed in March as rift between Asian powers deepens

Nearly half of the planned flights between China and Japan were cancelled last month, as Beijing and Tokyo remain locked in a diplomatic feud.

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Taiwan

China warns of ‘moves towards militarism’ after Japan eases arms export rules

Tokyo approves plan to scrap restrictions, prompting warnings that this could undermine the country’s pacifist constitution.

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Japan has already agreed a deal to sell three Mogami-class frigates to Australia. Photo: AFP
Japan

Japan warship’s Taiwan Strait voyage reignites China tensions

The JS Ikazuchi passed through the Taiwan Strait on Friday, the anniversary of an 1895 treaty handing Taiwan to Japan.

The JS Ikazuchi. Photo: handout
Taiwan

Is Japan’s treaty-day Taiwan Strait warship transit a new flashpoint with China?

The JS Ikazuchi’s passage through the waterway on Friday ‘harmed the feelings of the Chinese people’.

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Taiwan

Is Takaichi putting Japan’s pacifist constitution on the chopping block?

Goal of changing the post-war system has never been closer, but upper house could still be a stumbling block, analysts argue.

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Japan

China slams Japan for sending warship through Taiwan Strait

Beijing calls move a ‘deliberate provocation’ that undermines peace and stability in the strait.

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The Japanese Self-Defence Forces will send approximately 1,400 personnel, multiple warships, aircraft and Type 88 anti-ship missile systems to the annual US-Philippine military drills next week. Photo: AP
Taiwan

What does Japan’s role in a US-Philippine military drill mean for Taiwan?

Tokyo’s 1,400 combat troops mark most extensive participation yet in annual joint exercise and signal ‘priorities’ to Beijing, analysts say.

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China-Asean relations

Can Japan’s US$10b energy shield oust China’s influence in Southeast Asia?

Pledge is a bid to ‘embed Japan at the centre of Southeast Asia’s energy security architecture’, observer notes, but questions its impact.

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Japan

China says embassy intrusion, bomb threat are among ‘grave violations’ in Japan

Acting head of embassy lists incidents he describes as ‘a threat to the safety of Chinese diplomatic personnel and premises’.

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A police officer stands guard at an entrance to the Chinese embassy in Tokyo on March 25, 2026, a day after a man was apprehended for allegedly trespassing onto the grounds of the embassy. Photo: AFP
Rare earths

The next frontier: China maps seabed resources as Japan races to tap rare earths

Atlas charts location, concentration and distribution patterns of dozens of elements in seabed sediments.

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China surveyed more than 20,000 observation points, culminating in a geochemical data set of eastern waters, according to state media. Photo: CCTV
Japan

Should China be worried as Japan starts replacing helicopters with drones?

The move has triggered warnings that the new drones could be stationed in the Ryukyu chain close to the Chinese coast.

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South China Sea

‘A big deal’: military drills show Tokyo’s growing focus on deterring China

Combat-ready Japanese troops are being deployed in the Philippines for the first time since Japan’s occupation of the country during World War II.

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Taiwan

Japan’s ‘imperialist forces’ divided Taiwan from mainland, KMT’s Cheng Li-wun says

In a speech delivered at Sun Yat-sen Mausoleum in Nanjing, Kuomintang chair says cross-strait divisions are rooted in historical wounds.

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Kuomintang leader Cheng Li-wun lays a floral wreath at the Sun Yat-sen Mausoleum in Nanjing, Jiangsu province, on Wednesday. Photo: AP
Mainland China

Why China is worried by Japan’s plans to change rules on arms sales

The government in Tokyo is considering relaxing its restrictions on exports of lethal weapons amid heightened tensions with Beijing.

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Sanae Takaichi has angered Beijing with her comments over Taiwan. Photo: Reuters
Drones

With an eye on China, Japan looks to kamikaze drones and low-cost missiles

Tokyo plans to introduce loitering munitions with a range of more than 1,000km, according to Japanese media reports citing official sources.

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Self-Defence Forces (Japan)

Chinese navy arrives in Sea of Japan just as Tokyo deploys long-range missiles

Five ships transit Tsushima Strait and are tracked heading northeast after China warned of strong response to ‘neo-militarism’.

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