Overview
- China’s Ministry of Education urged students to carefully assess plans to study in Japan, escalating its reaction to Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi’s Diet statement about a potential Taiwan contingency.
- The Chinese Foreign Ministry had already advised citizens to refrain from visiting Japan, adding to earlier protests that included summoning Japan’s ambassador.
- Chief Cabinet Secretary Masato Kihara criticized China’s travel call as incompatible with the two countries’ goal of a strategic, mutually beneficial relationship.
- The United States approved a $330 million sale of equipment, including fighter-jet parts, to Taiwan, the first such approval under President Trump’s current term.
- At home, opposition leader Yoshihiko Noda denounced the prime minister’s remarks as careless, and Akita police reported a bear entered an Aeon store in Noshiro, prompting a full evacuation with no injuries.