Tokyo and Beijing Fall Out Over Taiwan Remarks as Japan and South Korea Close Ranks

Relations between Asia's two largest economies have deteriorated sharply, after remarks by Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi about how Japan might respond to a hypothetical Chinese attack on Taiwan triggered a furious reaction from Beijing.

China's retaliation has been swift and broad: flights to Japan slashed, Japanese cultural events cancelled, and — in the economic sphere — dozens of entities placed on export-control lists, with the commerce ministry citing Japanese 'militarism'. The dispute has chilled a relationship that was already delicate, and prompted former Japanese prime minister Yukio Hatoyama to call on South Korea to take the lead in reviving trilateral diplomacy between Seoul, Tokyo and Beijing.

The standoff is accelerating a strategic realignment already under way. As China shows greater willingness to strong-arm its neighbours, Japan and South Korea — two countries whose relationship has long been complicated by history — are banding together, drawn into closer security and economic alignment by shared anxiety about Beijing and uncertainty about the reliability of their American ally.

South Korea, meanwhile, has navigated its own political transition. The National Assembly approved Han Seong-sook as prime minister with 166 votes despite an opposition boycott, making her the country's 50th premier and only the second woman to hold the post. And in a sign of the era's nationalist currents, Japan's lower house passed a bill criminalising desecration of the national flag, with penalties of up to two years in prison.