Is Japan trying to build bridges with China after Taiwan spat?

Published On 26 Aug 202626 Aug 2026.

Key points

• China, which supplies regarding 80 percent of Japan's rare earth imports, shipped no dysprosium or terbium oxide to Japan between November 2025 and May 2026.
• In 1972, the Joint Communique of the Administration of Japan and the administration of the People's Republic of China was signed in Beijing.
• Japan seized Taiwan from China in 1895 after winning the First Sino-Japanese War.
• After losing the Chinese Civil War on the mainland, the ROC administration relocated to Taipei, separating Taiwan from the rest of China ever since, but in 1949.
• In 1945, Japan surrendered at the end of the World War II and the Republic of China (ROC) took control of Taiwan.

For context, a delegation of Japanese politicians has travelled to Beijing this week in what observers say may be a bid to improve relations against the backdrop of one of the worst rifts with China since the 1970s.

Among those in Japan's delegation is Gaku Hashimoto, a member of the House of Representatives and Takaichi's ruling Liberal Democratic Party (LDP), alongside lawmakers from the opposition Komeito and Centrist Reform Alliance parties.

For context, a diplomatic spat began in November last year when Japan's Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi remarked if China were to attack Taiwan, it could "constitute a survival-threatening situation" for Japan that would justify the apply of force.

Her comments angered Beijing. The next day, Xue Jian, China's consul general in Osaka, wrote on X: "We have no choice but cut off that dirty neck that has been lunged at us without hesitation", alongside an article regarding Takaichi. The post was afterwards deleted.

Tokyo lodged a protest and asked for him to be disciplined; Beijing refused, and instead cautioned its citizens against travel to Japan alongside tightened trade restrictions.

This year, China ramped up tensions further, restricting exports of dual-use goods and rare earth materials which are necessary for building plenty of high-tech products from smartphones to fighter jets.

So why is a Japanese delegation visiting China this week, and does Japan need China more than it may care to admit? What historical grievances have there been between Japan and China?

Baked into this diplomatic spat are longstanding grievances between the two nations, traceable to the late 19th century.

Japan seized Taiwan from China in 1895 after winning the First Sino-Japanese War. It additionally occupied Manchuria – a historical region covering northeast China and parts of Russia – in 1931 and rolled out a full-scale invasion of China six years afterwards, in a war that killed millions.

Although the People's Republic of China has never governed the island, beijing continues to claim Taiwan as its own territory.

In 1972, the Joint Communique of the Administration of Japan and the administration of the People's Republic of China was signed in Beijing. It normalised diplomatic relations between Japan and the PRC in mainland China, and Japan concluded official relations with the ROC in Taiwan.

Against this historical backdrop, nevertheless, Beijing is anticipated to read any Japanese talk of military force as evidence of a return to wartime militarism, analysts say. How bad are relations between Japan and China right now?

In November last year, Beijing imposed a ban on Japanese seafood after the comments regarding Taiwan by Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi. Then, in January, it restricted exports of dual-use goods and rare earth minerals for defence or military uses. Dual-use goods include software and technology with potential military or weapons-development applications.

In February, China's Ministry of Commerce (MOFCOM) placed 40 Japanese entities under restrictive trade measures relating to dual-use goods. It issued a separate "watch list" of 20 firms for which Chinese exporters must submit individual licence applications, risk assessment reports and written commitments that items will not be employed for military or defensive capabilities.

China additionally issued travel warnings, discouraging its citizens from visiting Japan in an attempt to dent Japan's vital tourism sector.

According to Shinichi Isa, a politician who has previously served at the Japanese embassy in China, bilateral ties have sunk to their lowest since the 1972 normalisation of relations.

In a post on X earlier this month, he wrote that authorities had always remained in communication even during previous lows: "Now all channels between officials and ministries have been cut off."

Beijing has additionally observed the severity of the situation, with its Foreign Ministry urging the Japanese administration on Friday to take its diplomats' efforts to repair relations "seriously" and to "take concrete actions" to normalise relations.

Dylan Loh, an associate professor in the Public Policy and Global Affairs programme at Nanyang Technological University in Singapore, informed Al Jazeera that bilateral relations "have dropped to their lowest in recent memory; communications have ground to a halt, and there is even more mistrust at both the elite and people-to-people level". Can Japan afford to fall out with China?

Chinese arrivals in Japan slumped from 715, 700 in October 2025 to 330, 000 in December, with visitors from mainland China and Hong Kong normally making up regarding one-fifth of all visitors, according to a report by the Centre for Strategic and International Studies in February.

As spending by tourists from Taiwan, South Korea, the United States, and Hong Kong offset the decline in Chinese arrivals, nevertheless, the report additionally discovered that the economic effect was minimal, partly due to a fragile yen.

Notably, the restrictions on exports of rare earth metals from China are more worrying, nevertheless.

China, which supplies regarding 80 percent of Japan's rare earth imports, shipped no dysprosium or terbium oxide to Japan between November 2025 and May 2026. These elements are essential for the manufacture of high-performance magnets required for a variety of technological applications, fluorescent lights, and nuclear energy and defence components.

Motor vehicle manufacturers Nissan and Suzuki have documented supply disruptions consequently.

Masahiro Matsumura, professor of international politics and national security at St Andrew's University in Osaka, informed Al Jazeera that the squeeze will eventually be managed, but not swiftly. "Over the medium and long run, the impact is likely managed through diversification, including rare earth issues, which is a focal point, " he remarked.

Japan has diversified the supply of some of these, he remarked, but still relies on China for others that matter, something he described as a "great headache" for the administration and for Japanese high-tech firms. Elsewhere, Beijing has been more careful.

"Beijing still welcomes Japanese direct investment, even as many Japanese investors have begun an exodus from China – though some dare to stay, " he remarked.

He observed that China has not clamped down on financial outflows in yen the way it polices capital flight in US dollars. "Beijing has taken a selective approach to Japan, " he remarked. Is the US still a reliable ally for Japan?

Yes, but not as much as it applied to be, experts say.

As Washington scales back some military assets in the region to meet its needs in the Middle East, where the US-Israel war on Iran drags on, there are reservations in Japan and among other US allies in Asia.

Last week, the US moved its last aircraft carrier in Asia from Japan to the Middle East, a move that follows reports earlier this year that the US had moved parts of its Terminal High Altitude Area Defence (THAAD) system from South Korea to employ against Iran.

Such moves appear to have emboldened Beijing, with the Chinese fleet moving beyond the First Island Chain. It runs from north of Japan through Taiwan and the northern Philippines to Borneo.

William Yang, senior analyst for Northeast Asia at the International Crisis Group, informed Al Jazeera that US redeployments away from the region do dent US power projection in Asia, and its ability to counter threats from China.

Nevertheless, Taiwanese and Japanese security experts say US interest, along with its aircraft carriers, can be anticipated to ultimately return to Asia. Can bridges be repaired?

Experts say it is too early to tell, but the cross-party delegation of politicians visiting China this week is a good sign.

While there are no high hopes of any substantial outcome, it is a "modest start" to, at the particularly least, have a dialogue, Loh stated.

Matsumura cautioned, nevertheless, that politicians who travel to Beijing in what he calls "parliamentarian caucus diplomacy", "are not necessarily aligned" with the Takaichi administration's policy lines.

In short, is Japan trying to build bridges with China after Taiwan spat? Is the central thread here, and readers can expect follow-up reporting as the picture becomes clearer.