China Blames Takaichi as Trump Nudges Xi Toward Talks

Why This Topic Landed in Japan

Since PM Takaichi's remarks about a Taiwan contingency, China has kept up pressure on Japan, and the question of who is responsible for the standoff had become a domestic talking point. Two threads then collided on the same days. First, Beijing was reported to have refused to budge, telling the pro-Beijing lawmaker Iwaya that "the one who caused the problem (Takaichi) must be the one to solve it" and showing no interest in a leaders' meeting. Second, the Hong Kong paper SCMP reported that at their September summit Trump had asked Xi to withdraw export restrictions aimed at Japan and to repair relations through talks with Takaichi. That report rests on anonymous sources and has no confirmation from any official record of the US-China summit. The overlap of "China pushing the blame onto Takaichi" and "Washington nudging Beijing" turned attention to Japan's own leverage and to what the United States was really after.

Key Reaction Themes

• Most rejected Beijing's framing outright — The largest share of comments flipped the script: China is the one "causing the problem," so there is nothing for Japan to fix. "They are just unilaterally deciding what counts as a problem," ran the common refrain.
• Mediators were mocked as powerless messengers — Many saw Beijing relaying demands through a private friendship-league lawmaker as proof the channel is useless, calling Iwaya an errand boy or a carrier pigeon.
• Trump's move read as empty words or US self-interest — A sizable group treated the reported request to Xi as either cheap talk ("it costs nothing to say") or a deal driven by American reliance on rare earths.
• Xi painted as weak; Taiwan still a worry — Some belittled Xi as too obsessed with saving face to act, while others warned he could invade Taiwan early next year.
• A smaller group said Takaichi should resolve it herself — A minority leaned partway toward Beijing's framing, arguing the prime minister should step up and talk directly.

What Japanese Netizens Are Saying

China pins the blame on Takaichi and brushes off Iwaya

Beijing cast the deterioration of ties as Takaichi's fault, refused Iwaya's overtures, and declined dialogue.

Sources: 2ch, Yahoo! news, 2ch

Comments:

• "Wait, the one causing the problem is Xi, isn't it?"
• "They're just unilaterally deciding on their own that it's a problem."
• "There's nothing to 'solve' when China has no intention of solving anything, so it's pointless."
• "So what exactly is the problem?"
• "They're ignoring you, so don't sweat it. For a great power they sure are thin-skinned."
• "So from now on sending an errand boy like Iwaya is meaningless. Got it."
• "Even Xi can figure out that a small fry like Iwaya is useless. Good for him."
• "A Taiwan invasion is a life-or-death issue for Japan, so if China just stops, it's solved instantly."
• "What's the point of saying that to the head of a private citizens' group?"
• "It's hilarious they still think China holds the initiative. No wonder nothing gets settled."
• "A weak little country that can't even say it to PM Takaichi directly, lol."
• "China is consistent and simple: Takaichi's slip of the tongue can only be fixed by Takaichi. Crystal clear."
• "From the start it's 'the person herself, PM Takaichi, come out.' Just hold a proper talk at APEC."
• "Isn't China's foreign ministry getting dumber year by year?"

Trump asks Xi for talks; Xi refuses

Trump was reported to have urged Xi to lift the restrictions on Japan and hold a summit, but Beijing declined to talk.

Sources: 47NEWS, Yahoo! news, 2ch

Comments:

• "Xi can't do anything anymore because face matters too much to him. The pathos of a dictator."
• "Their read was probably too rosy. They fantasized that if they went and tattled to the West, everyone would side with China — but instead China itself got criticized and now can't back down."
• "There'll be no improvement in Japan-China ties until Xi falls. It'll stay like this for the next ten years."
• "Japan can't do anything unless the US intervenes over Taiwan, so what is she even talking about?"
• "How long is China going to keep running from dialogue? It'll hurt them if the Japanese firms they host now disappear."
• "Japanese companies that moved into China should hurry up and get out."
• "Xi is small-minded."
• "Funny how Japan's business world seems desperate not to be abandoned, lol."
• "President Xi Jinping (Shukinpei): 'I've come to collect the money (shukin).' President Trump: 'I'll pay with Donald-Pay.' US-China trade friction." [Translator's note: a pun — Xi Jinping's name in Japanese, "Shukinpei," sounds like "shukin," to collect money.]
• "It costs nothing to just say it."
• "USA = Doraemon, Japan = Nobita, China = Gian." [Translator's note: Doraemon characters; Gian is the neighborhood bully, Nobita the weakling he pushes around.]
• "Honestly I think there'd be more upside to getting along, but China has spent so long stoking anti-Japan feeling among its own people that it can hardly pivot to 'let's get along with Japan.' Doing it because Trump told them to would make Xi look like a weak leader to the Chinese public."