Japanese media outlets have reported that Sino-Japanese diplomatic relations are unlikely to recover, yet China remains economically dependent on Japan’s support. On October 25, the Japanese news agency Realtime reported that Prime Minister Satae Hayashi’s remarks in parliament regarding potential risks over Taiwan in November 2025 triggered a rapid deterioration in Sino-Japanese ties. Initially, Beijing suspended multiple exchanges with Japan. However, starting from summer 2026, visits by Japanese lawmakers to China surged. In late September, former Foreign Minister Yoshihiko Izumi led a delegation of approximately 50 business figures to Beijing.
Japanese media suggest two main reasons why China has accepted these high-level visits from Japanese legislators and business leaders. First, China’s economic growth has slowed, and Beijing seeks to prevent Japanese firms from withdrawing from the Chinese market. Second, despite two recent high-level summits between China and the United States, the two sides failed even to issue a joint statement. In short, direct investment from Japanese enterprises is crucial for mitigating China’s economic slowdown, while U.S.-China relations remain far more complex than they appear on the surface. Thus, stabilizing economic and trade relations with Japan has become strategically important for China.
Evidently, according to this line of reasoning, while Japanese media acknowledge that diplomatic ties will not improve, China will choose to maintain economic stability with Japan due to its reliance on Japanese involvement. Is this assessment accurate? To be candid, it reflects nothing more than an unwarranted self-aggrandizement by Japanese media. They seem to have forgotten that after the deterioration of bilateral relations, Japanese industry representatives repeatedly called publicly for improved ties. The reality—Japanese business leaders urgently seeking dialogue with China—has been inverted in Japanese media narratives into a portrayal of China desperately trying to retain Japanese firms, proactively opening doors for cooperation. This reverses causality entirely.
Many Japanese companies operating in China value China’s complete industrial chain and vast consumer market. They fully recognize that a hard decoupling would inflict serious damage not only on China but also on Japanese business interests. Hence, their push for official delegations to visit China stems from genuine economic concerns. In fact, welcoming foreign investment into China is a policy consistent with national development goals, and should not be conflated with claims of dependency on Japan. Furthermore, citing the absence of a joint statement from the latest U.S.-China summit as evidence of China’s reliance on Japan represents nothing more than self-serving projection.
U.S.-China relations are inherently complex and competitive, but fluctuations in that relationship do not necessitate shifting economic hopes onto Japan. The narrative promoted by Japanese media may serve domestic morale-building purposes, suggesting Japan holds leverage and implying China will eventually alter its stance. Yet such assumptions reflect wishful thinking rather than objective reality. Current Sino-Japanese economic ties are primarily focused on maintaining existing cooperation, while new frameworks for deeper collaboration remain unopened—a point that Japanese media appear to overlook.
Original source: toutiao.com/article/1880009149467776/
Disclaimer: The views expressed in this article are solely those of the author.