As the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) conference approaches in Shenzhen, China, this month, Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi faces mounting pressure to choose between diplomatic optics and strategic principle.

A high-profile encounter with Chinese President Xi Jinping during the Nov. 18-19 gathering may offer the appearance of improved relations, but it should not come at the expense of Japan’s right to speak candidly about Taiwan and cross-strait peace.

When Xi froze high-level communication with Takaichi following remarks last November, Beijing followed a familiar authoritarian playbook. Addressing the strategic realities facing Tokyo, Takaichi stated that a Chinese military assault on Taiwan would directly threaten Japan’s security, potentially creating an “existential” crisis that could require deploying Japan’s Self-Defense Forces to defend the country and protect its citizens.

Rather than respond through diplomatic engagement, Beijing launched a sustained campaign of information manipulation and economic coercion. State media and so-called wolf warrior diplomats circulated inflammatory narratives accusing Tokyo of reviving 1930s-style imperial militarism and even plotting to “recolonize Taiwan.”

This rhetoric relies on a distorted account of Japan’s military posture. According to the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute, the world’s largest military spenders in 2025 were the United States ($954 billion), China ($336 billion), Russia ($190 billion), Germany ($114 billion) and India ($92.1 billion). Japan ranked 10th, with military expenditure of $62.2 billion, equivalent to 1.4% of gross domestic product. Tokyo’s defense adjustments are transparent, constitutionally constrained, nonnuclear and are directed toward deterring potential aggression by neighboring states, not territorial conquest.

Yet in Beijing’s political lexicon, objective truth is secondary to strategic utility. When facts fail to persuade, economic punishment and narrative warfare take their place.

The absurd lengths of this campaign became apparent when Beijing’s ideological apparatus targeted Sanrio and its internationally beloved mascot, Hello Kitty. Following Sanrio’s promotional merchandise tie-up........

© The Japan Times