Chinese President Xi Jinping, during a meeting with US leader Donald Trump in Beijing, sharply criticized Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi for the "remilitarization" of the country.
This was reported to the Financial Times by seven sources familiar with the negotiations.
They said, that Xi became emotional and angry when the topic of Japan came up, a move that surprised US officials because the topic had not been discussed between the US and China before the summit. Some people described the verbal attack as the most tense moment of the two-day meeting between the leaders.
After Xi criticized Takaichi and Japanʼs rising defense spending, Trump responded by saying Tokyo was being forced to take a tougher stance on security because of the threat from North Korea. It was not clear whether he was referring to China, Japanʼs main security concern.
Former White House senior official on Japan Christopher Johnston said that Xiʼs "caustic approach" to Japan and his attempts to take advantage of Trumpʼs desire to stabilize US-China relations only push Tokyo towards greater security independence.
He added that Chinaʼs anti-Japanese rhetoric finds no support outside of China itself, while Tokyo is strengthening security ties with Australia, the Philippines, and even South Korea — countries that fear an aggressive China much more than a "remilitarized" Japan.
Meanwhile, Tokyo is nervous about the state of the US-Japan alliance, from tariffs Trump has imposed on allies to concerns that a war with Iran is weakening US deterrence against China.
The Financial Times previously reported that the US warned Japan this month of serious delays in the delivery of 400 Tomahawk missiles that Tokyo ordered in 2024 to build a “counter-strike” capability against China.
China-Japan relations
Japan has been calling China a bigger threat than North Korea in its defense “white papers” for several years now. Since 2023, Tokyo has described Chinese military activity as its “biggest strategic challenge”. A draft defense report for 2026 expresses “serious concern” about deepening military cooperation between Beijing and Moscow.
Relations between Beijing and Tokyo have deteriorated sharply since Takaichiʼs November 2025 remarks that a Chinese attack on Taiwan could pose an "existential threat" to Japan and justify the use of Japanese military force. While this did not constitute a change in policy, China strongly condemned the remarks.
Since then, Beijing has been constantly attacking Japan both rhetorically and practically — in particular, the country has restricted exports of dual-use rare earth metals.
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