Performative signalling

Japan over Taiwan that reminded the world that China’s wolf warrior diplomacy and economic weaponisation were still within easy reach.

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In response to parliamentary questioning, Prime Minister Takaichi stated that a Chinese attack on Taiwan using warships could constitute a “survival-threatening situation” for Japan under its 2015 security legislation, potentially allowing Tokyo to deploy its Self-Defence Forces.

Previous Japanese governments have deliberately kept vague about what might trigger a “survival-threatening situation” over Taiwan. But by explicitly linking a Taiwan contingency to possible military action, the Japanese prime minister crossed from strategic ambiguity into what China saw as a provocative clarity.

Diplomatic protests escalated into performative signalling. The Chinese consul-general in Osaka, Xue Jian, issued inflammatory remarks that played poorly even among audiences accustomed to blunt Chinese diplomacy, as he threatened to cut off the “dirty neck that sticks itself in”.

When Japan demanded an apology and Ms Takaichi refused to retract her comments, Beijing unleashed a coordinated campaign of economic coercion: travel advisories warning Chinese citizens against visiting Japan, cancellation of Japanese film releases and concerts, reinstatement of a blanket ban on Japanese seafood imports, and threats of broader trade restrictions.

The pressure campaign extended to international forums. China submitted two letters to the United Nations accusing Japan of violating “basic norms governing international relations” and threatened to invoke enemy-state clauses in the UN Charter which were designed to prevent aggression by the World War II Axis powers.