Japan to drop 'most important' tag for China ties

Tokyo: Japan will downgrade its description of ties ​with China from "one of ​its most important" in an annual diplomatic report, ​according to a draft reviewed by Reuters, as relations with Beijing worsen.

The 2026 Diplomatic Bluebook, which Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi's government is expected to approve ‌next month, ⁠will ⁠instead describe China as an important neighbour and the relationship as "strategic" and "mutually beneficial."

The draft cites a series of confrontations with Beijing over the past year, ​including export controls on rare earths, radar lock-ons targeting Japanese military aircraft and increased pressure around Taiwan.


The shift in tone ​underscores a deterioration in ties that has ⁠become entrenched ‌since November, when Takaichi angered Beijing by saying ​that Japan ​could deploy its military if a Chinese move ⁠against neighbouring Taiwan also threatened its territory.

Beijing responded ​by reimposing restrictions on Japanese seafood imports, urging ​its citizens to avoid travel to Japan and announcing curbs on rare earths and critical minerals used in electronic components.

Takaichi has said her remarks were in line with a decade-old security law, while a report by U.S. intelligence agencies last ‌week said she had sharply departed from the rhetoric of previous Japanese leaders. Her government rejected that ​assessment.

In a ​speech to parliament ⁠last month, Takaichi warned of Chinese "coercion" and mounting economic and security threats posed by Beijing and its regional partners Russia and North ​Korea.

During a meeting between U.S. President Donald Trump and Takaichi at the White House on Thursday, Tokyo and Washington unveiled a joint action plan to develop alternatives to China for critical minerals and rare earths supply chains.