Overview

• On the sidelines of a Lancang-Mekong Cooperation foreign ministers meeting, Politburo member Wang Yi called on Tokyo to acknowledge its wartime actions
• Wang cited the Cairo Declaration and Potsdam Proclamation as binding international instruments requiring Japan to return territories seized during World War II, including Taiwan
• He accused certain Japanese factions of glorifying aggression, distorting history, and seeking to rehabilitate wartime criminals
• State media Xinhua carried the remarks, highlighting Beijing’s strategy of leveraging historical narratives to press its territorial and diplomatic claims
• Japan has not issued an official response to the demand, raising the prospect of further strain in Sino-Japanese relations and regional tensions over Taiwan