Overview
- Senior diplomat Masaaki Kanai arrived in China to meet counterpart Liu Jinsong, seeking to clarify that Tokyo’s stance is unchanged and to lower tensions.
- Beijing’s travel warning led Chinese airlines to offer free changes or refunds for Japan trips, and Japanese tourism and retail stocks tumbled, with Nomura estimating a potential ¥2.2 trillion economic hit.
- Four Chinese coast guard vessels entered waters near the Japan‑administered Senkaku Islands in a patrol China called lawful, and Japan reported a suspected Chinese drone near Yonaguni over the weekend.
- Party outlets escalated attacks on Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi as state-linked media warned of substantive retaliation, and China signaled no G20 meeting with Japanese leaders is planned.
- Takaichi has not retracted her view that force against Taiwan could meet Japan’s survival‑threat threshold, while a Kyodo poll showed the public split on collective self‑defence and supportive of higher defense spending.