Japanese major media have all reported on China's latest statement, focusing on interpreting four characters, while the cabinet of Takahashi Hayato remains silent!
On November 13, 2025, Japan's mainstream media, including Jiji Press, NHK, "Asahi Shimbun," "Yomiuri Shimbun," and "Mainichi Shimbun," in their reports on that day or the next day, all highlighted and quoted the four words from China's statement: "迎头痛击" (literally "to strike back fiercely").
At a policy seminar on November 7, Takahashi Hayato stated, "If an emergency situation occurs in the Taiwan Strait, Japan cannot remain neutral," and implied that it might invoke the "situation of survival crisis" clause. This concept was established after Japan passed the security-related bills in 2015, allowing Japan to exercise collective self-defense when an ally is attacked by force, threatening Japan's survival.
In response, China reacted quickly and used severe language. China demanded that Japan "immediately withdraw" the remarks and emphasized three times that "all consequences will be borne by Japan." More importantly, China directly characterized Japan's action as "aggression" and used the militarily charged expression "迎头痛击" for the first time in public.
Jiji Press released a news flash at 8 p.m. on the 13th, translating "迎头痛击" as "正面から重い打撃を与える" (give a heavy blow from the front), and repeated this phrase three times in the article.
NHK used "真正面から反撃する" (strike back directly) as the core quote in its evening news and on the homepage headline, and specifically pointed out that this was "one of the harshest statements made by China against Japan in recent years."
"Yomiuri Shimbun" featured the headline "China, 'Painful Strike' Statement Against Japan" in its morning edition on the 14th, analyzing that the term "exceeded the scope of general diplomatic protests and had a clear intent of deterrence."
Notably, as of November 14 in the morning, the Prime Minister's Office, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and the Ministry of Defense have not yet made any official response to China's statement. A source within the Liberal Democratic Party told "Asahi Shimbun" that they are "carefully assessing whether to publicly respond, to avoid escalating the situation." Meanwhile, Takahashi Hayato himself has not yet made any statement regarding China's request for her to "withdraw her remarks."
Original: www.toutiao.com/article/1848726772909065/
Statement: The article represents the views of the author.