(Bloomberg) — China has told Japan it will suspend imports of Japanese seafood, Kyodo News reported, in a move that signals their diplomatic spat is far from over and could further strain economic ties.
Beijing cited a need to monitor treated water release from the Fukushima nuclear plant, Kyodo said, citing an unidentified government official. The move comes just months after China lifted a similar ban in June.
The decision follows a meeting aimed at easing tensions that appears to have made little progress. Liu Jinsong, director-general of the Chinese Foreign Ministry’s Asian Affairs Department, said he was “dissatisfied” with the outcome of his talks with Japanese diplomat Masaaki Kanai on Tuesday, according to a report by Chinese news outlet The Paper.
Relations between the two neighbors have soured recently after Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi became the first sitting Japanese leader in decades to publicly link a Taiwan Strait crisis with the possible deployment of Japanese troops. Her remarks drew swift retaliation from Beijing, which warned of more to come.
Japan said Kanai reiterated that the country’s position on Taiwan remains unchanged. Kanai also pushed back against “extremely inappropriate statements” made by Xue Jian, China’s consul general in Osaka, who threatened to cut off Takaichi’s head in a now-deleted post on X. Kanai, who is the director general of the Asian and Oceanian affairs bureau, demanded immediate action against the diplomat.
Economic Impacts
China’s seafood imports from Japan have slowed to a trickle since 2024, after Beijing imposed a ban on shipments from its Asian neighbor. In the first nine months of this year, imports of fish, crustaceans and other seafood totaled just $500,000, Chinese customs data show.
Beijing has warned Chinese citizens against traveling to Japan — a move that has already led at least two state-owned travel agencies to scrap group tours booked months in advance, according to people familiar with the matter. The travel warning triggered a sharp selloff in Japan’s biggest tourism and retail stocks before they recovered some of their losses.
State-owned firms have advised employees to avoid travel to Japan, with some investment groups, banks, brokerages and other companies sending cautionary messages to staff this week, people familiar with the matter said.
There are concerns that China could use trade as a weapon as it has done in the past during disputes with Japan, Australia, South Korea and others. When Beijing and Tokyo clashed over a territorial dispute more than a decade ago, China temporarily blocked supplies of rare earths.
Japanese industry is concerned that this could happen again, with Foreign Trade Council Chairman Tatsuo Yasunaga saying Wednesday that “we cannot dismiss the possibility that this matter could lead to a new supply insecurity for rare earths,” adding that “as business entities we will request appropriate action.”
China has demanded that Takaichi retract her statement, and state media blasted her comments, saying they “sound a stark warning that Japan’s militarist demons are being summoned anew.”
China’s Ministry of State Security has also weighed in, saying in a social media post that Takaichi was “playing with fire” and threatening unspecified consequences if she didn’t retract her comments. The post also noted that in recent years China had uncovered a number of espionage cases involving Japan and vowed to protect national security, without providing details.
And Zhu Fenglian, a spokesperson for the Beijing office that handles Taiwan affairs, said that Takaichi’s comments were an “attempt to revive militarism that tramples on international justice.”
She added that Beijing wanted Japan to immediately stop interfering in China’s internal affairs and stop provocations and transgressions.
‘Maximalist Demand’
“Beijing is clearly signaling to Tokyo through this exchange that it is not yet ready to let the fire die out or to let cooler heads prevail,” said Jeremy Chan, a senior Eurasia Group analyst and former US diplomat. “It has also only reiterated its maximalist demand that Takaichi fully retract her statement, which she cannot do. This leaves no immediate off-ramp for de-escalation.”
The optics around the meeting also drew attention. Chinese state media cited scholars who said Kanai’s mid-level rank suggested Japan wasn’t sincere about ending the dispute, while Liu’s attire sparked speculation that it carried symbolic meaning.
A social media account run by China’s state broadcaster identified Liu’s tunic-style suit as similar to those worn by student protesters during the 1919 May Fourth Movement, an uprising that mobilized young people against the transfer of Chinese territory to Japan and spurred a boycott of Japanese goods.
Liu has donned similar traditional suits at past diplomatic events, and it remains unclear whether his choice this time was intended as a statement.
