Infuriated by comments about Taiwan by Japan’s new prime minister, Sanae Takaichi, China has unleashed a stream of vitriol, including a threat by a Chinese diplomat to cut off the leader’s “filthy neck.” The abuse abruptly ended a honeymoon between Ms. Takaichi, in office for less than a month, and China. She had met China’s top leader, Xi Jinping, just last month in South Korea, with the two leaders warmly shaking hands and smiling. It also ended China’s turn away from so-called wolf warrior diplomacy, an aggressive, in-your-face approach to foreign relations that took shape after Mr. Xi rose to power in Beijing in 2012 but had largely faded in recent years.

Full commentary : A Chinese diplomat’s call to cut off the prime minister’s “filthy neck” signaled a revival of a combative style Beijing had tried to dial back.