[People News] Following Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi’s remarks that “a Taiwan contingency is a Japanese contingency,” the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) has imposed various economic pressure measures against Japan, triggering resentment among the Japanese public. In particular, the CCP’s recent export ban on so-called “dual-use” products has drawn fierce criticism from Japan’s Yomiuri Shimbun.

The Yomiuri Shimbun, Japan’s largest-circulation and highly influential conservative newspaper, published an editorial on the 27th stating that Beijing’s attempt to pressure Japan through “economic coercion” has backfired. Instead, it has heightened public vigilance in Japan and become the “strongest assist” for Prime Minister Takaichi in advancing defense modernization and strengthening security policy. In response to the CCP’s accusation that Japan is pursuing “new militarism,” the editorial countered that it is in fact the CCP that is undermining the postwar international order.

The Yomiuri Shimbun noted that since Prime Minister Takaichi’s parliamentary remarks last November regarding a “Taiwan contingency,” Beijing has continued to apply economic pressure, including calls for Chinese citizens to stop traveling to Japan. Most recently, the CCP imposed export bans on dual-use products targeting 20 Japanese companies and organizations, clearly aiming at defense and aerospace-related enterprises. A spokesperson for China’s Ministry of Commerce claimed the measures were intended “to curb Japan’s remilitarization and nuclear ambitions.”

The newspaper used unusually strong language, calling the justification “utterly absurd.” The editorial argued that Beijing’s real objective is to constrain the Takaichi administration’s push to increase defense spending and accelerate revisions to Japan’s “Three Security Documents.” It asked pointedly: “But are not these very policy responses being prompted by China’s own actions?”

The editorial further stated that the Xi Jinping regime has recently used the term “new militarism” to label Japan as a challenger to the postwar international order. However, while portraying itself as a defender of free trade, Beijing is simultaneously weaponizing economic tools to intimidate those who defy its will. Therefore, “China cannot escape the charge that it is itself the destroyer of the postwar order.”

The paper also argued that China’s economic coercion against Japan violates the spirit of the World Trade Organization (WTO). It said that the Japanese government’s strong protest and demand that Beijing cease such pressure are entirely justified.

The CCP may not have anticipated that its repeated weaponization of rare earth exports in the past had already prompted Japanese companies to prepare in advance by building strategic stockpiles. As a result, the short-term impact of Beijing’s latest measures has been limited.

Regarding China’s economic pressure on Japan, Indo-Pacific strategic think tank executive director Akio Yaita wrote on January 25 that Beijing’s move was more a political gesture than a substantive blow. He argued that the frequent use of economic tools to express political dissatisfaction is producing diminishing marginal returns and even counterproductive effects. Japan’s supply chain restructuring has long been underway, he said, and Beijing’s export controls and political retaliation are reminding investors not to overlook the risks of uncertainty—thereby accelerating the long-term trend of foreign capital withdrawing from China. △