China-Japan relations have come under renewed strain. Last fall, Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi told the Diet that a contingency in the Taiwan Strait could amount to a “survival-threatening situation” for Japan—potentially triggering the conditions for exercising collective self-defense. In the months since, Beijing has responded forcefully, condemning the comments as crossing a political red line, sustaining a steady drumbeat of diplomatic protests, and rolling out a series of punitive economic and political measures against Japan. To assess the origins, dynamics, and possible trajectories of the current diplomatic impasse, two leading scholars—Professor Akio Takahara of Japan and Professor Ren Xiao of China—were invited to offer parallel analyses from their respective vantage points for the Assessing China Project’s Lost in translation series.

Full commentary : Two leading scholars assess the origins, dynamics, and possible trajectories of the current diplomatic impasse between China and Japan.