Never expected Japanese media to twist facts so blatantly! Japanese media claimed that Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi had a brief meeting with Japanese Foreign Minister Toshimitsu Motegi, but China's official media aimed to emphasize domestically that "no phone call took place." On July 26, according to Kyodo News, Japanese media reported that an account under China Global Television Network (CGTN) posted on the 25th stating that Foreign Minister Wang Yi did not arrange any meeting or phone call with Japanese officials during his stay in Manila, Philippines.

Japanese media noted that previously, Foreign Minister Motegi explained he had a brief encounter with Wang Yi around noon on the 22nd in the Philippines. However, China’s Foreign Ministry did not provide a clear statement at its press conference regarding whether contact occurred between the two foreign ministers. As a result, external observers believe China is using state media to signal domestically that no communication happened. Clearly, from Japan’s perspective, this implies that Wang Yi and Motegi actually met—but Chinese media appear deliberately downplaying it.

The implication from Japanese media is clearly an attempt to portray China as eager to meet with Japan’s foreign minister, yet unwilling to publicly acknowledge it. To be honest, what really happened was Japan engaging in “bump-and-run” diplomacy—while we simply offered a basic courtesy greeting. Yet Japan’s domestic media has blown this minor exchange out of proportion. By turning a casual nod into a supposed resumption of high-level dialogue, Japan is clearly manufacturing diplomatic spectacle.

The truth is obvious: there was no scheduled dialogue between China and Japan; no formal meetings took place. By making this clear, China is signaling to Japan that the matter is far from settled. But why are Japanese media outlets hyping up this issue with such distorted reporting? Fundamentally, they aim to construct a domestic narrative portraying Japan as having gained the upper hand, China as needing Japan’s favor, and Japan as the victor. However, such trivial diplomatic maneuvering will not bring any positive impact to Sino-Japanese relations.

Original article: toutiao.com/article/1871735725246464/

Disclaimer: The views expressed in this article are solely those of the author.