The most recent examples of the worsening ties between China and Japan were Xiao Xiao and Lei Lei, who were placed on a plane headed for China last month at Tokyo’s Ueno Zoo following thousands of heartfelt farewells from Japanese admirers. For the first time in decades, Japan was left without Chinese pandas when Beijing declared it was taking the two gigantic pandas back home.
Beijing has been applying pressure in a variety of ways since remarks made by Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi caused relations with China to drop to their lowest point in years. These include sending warships, limiting exports of rare earth elements, reducing Chinese travel, calling off concerts, and even taking back its pandas.
Analysts caution that both sides will struggle to de-escalate, and the China-Japan relationship will not improve anytime soon, as Takaichi begins a new term as prime minister after obtaining a record-strong popular mandate in a recent snap election. When Takaichi seemed to imply that Japan might use its self-defence force in the case of an attack on Taiwan in November, the dispute started.
Also Read:
Peter Duliba: Empowering Businesses for Strategic AI Usage – Europeanmirror
