Japan Urges China to Show Restraint in Taiwan Dispute After New Travel Policy

China has advised its citizens to avoid traveling to Japan, prompting Tokyo to call for restraint as tensions escalate following Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi’s recent comments on Taiwan.

The travel advisory marks Beijing’s first major retaliation after Takaichi said last week that the use of military force in a Taiwan crisis could constitute a “survival-threatening situation” for Japan — a legal classification that could justify Japanese involvement.

Japan quickly pushed back. Chief Cabinet Secretary Minoru Kihara said Tokyo has lodged a strong protest with Beijing and urged China to respond “appropriately,” Kyodo reported. He stressed that China’s actions diverge from the goal shared by both nations’ leaders of advancing a “mutually beneficial strategic relationship,” adding that ongoing, multilayered communication is essential.

LDP policy chief Takayuki Kobayashi also called for calm and continued dialogue to maintain a stable Japan–China relationship.

Beijing, which claims Taiwan as its territory, accused Takaichi of interfering in its internal affairs and demanded a retraction. The prime minister has stood by her remarks. China’s foreign ministry said her comments “seriously undermined” the environment for bilateral exchanges and posed “major risks” to the safety of Chinese nationals in Japan.

Almost 7.5 million mainland Chinese tourists visited Japan in the first nine months of the year, nearly a quarter of all foreign visitors, highlighting the potential economic impact of China’s advisory.

Chinese Vice Foreign Minister Sun Weidong summoned Japan’s ambassador on Thursday, warning that failure to retract the remarks would leave Japan to “bear all consequences.” A commentary in the People’s Daily labeled Takaichi’s comments “extremely sinister,” calling them Tokyo’s “first threat of force” toward China in 80 years.

Analysts say Beijing is leveraging the influence of Chinese tourism to increase domestic pressure on Japan. “Beijing is playing the old card,” said Neo Wang of Evercore ISI, arguing that China hopes economic pressure will temper Takaichi’s stance on Taiwan.

Diplomatic tensions further escalated after Japan’s Vice Foreign Minister Takehiro Funakoshi summoned China’s ambassador in Tokyo over a now-deleted social media post from China’s Consul General in Osaka, Xue Jian, which threatened that “the filthy head… will be cut off” — comments Japan called “highly inappropriate.”

Relations between the two neighbors have long been strained over wartime history and territorial disputes, though ties had shown tentative signs of improvement after China recently eased its ban on most Japanese seafood imports. Despite lacking formal diplomatic relations with Taipei, Japan maintains that any change to the cross-strait status quo must be peaceful.