Chinese retaliation against Japanese Prime Minister Takaichi Sanae after her statements perceived as supportive of Taiwan have been watched carefully by Taiwanese. Perhaps unsurprisingly, such reactions have contributed to positive views of Takaichi in Taiwan, even as a clear split has emerged between the pan-Green and pan-Blue camps when it comes to her statements.
During a Diet Budget Committee session, Takaichi was asked if China deploying warships against Taiwan in a blockade scenario would constitute a “survival-threatening situation” for Japan. A situation seen as threatening Japan’s survival could potentially allow for the deployment of Japan’s Self-Defense Force, Japan’s de facto military that is legally constrained to only act in defense of Japan.
Takaichi responded, “It would not be a survival-threatening situation if it’s just lining up civilian ships to make passage difficult.” However, the prime minister then went on to state, “But if it’s warships with the use of military force, then I think it may count.” When pressured, Takaichi later refused to retract these comments.
Anger from Chinese diplomatic officials was quick. Most controversially, China’s consul general in Osaka, Xue Jian, suggested that Takaichi should be decapitated in a Facebook post that was later deleted.
Afterward, in the midst of the fallout, China imposed bans on all Japanese seafood imports. China had only recently lifted resumed imports of Japanese seafood for the first time since 2023, when Beijing banned them over Japan’s release of wastewater used in the cleanup of the 2011 Fukushima nuclear disaster into the Pacific Ocean. China also canceled flights to Japan and called on its citizens to avoid travel there, hoping to impact Japan’s tourism revenues.
Following a familiar script, Taiwan’s Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) was quick to rally support for Japan. A group of Kaohsiung-based DPP legislators called on the public to buy Japanese goods to support the Japanese economy. This included suggesting that Taiwanese should spend a NT$10,000 cash handout originally pushed for by the Kuomintang (KMT) to potentially travel to Japan. The same group of lawmakers also called on Takaichi to “fight on.”
Likewise, Taiwanese President Lai Ching-te, also of the DPP, posted a photo of himself on social media enjoying a sushi lunch of imported Japanese fish. This was a deliberate echo of a previous social media post by former Japanese Prime Minister Abe Shinzo – in response to a Chinese ban of Taiwanese pineapples, Abe posted a photo of himself enjoying one of the fruits. During his lifetime, Abe was a popular figure in Taiwan with the pan-Green camp because of the view that he was highly supportive of Taiwan.
Takaichi’s show of support for Taiwan is not entirely surprising. Takaichi had previously traveled to Taiwan in April to meet with Lai and other high-ranking government officials, before her election as prime minister in October.
Former President Ma Ying-jeou of the KMT, however, sounded a very different note than Lai in criticizing Takaichi’s comments as “reckless.” Ma suggested that the Japanese prime minister had broken with the measured diplomacy of her predecessors and criticized her as a resurgence of right-wing militarism in Japan. Ma framed cross-strait relations as an “internal matter” that Japan should not become involved in.
Ma’s views were echoed by former KMT chair Hung Hsiu-chu, known for her strong stance in favor of unification. Hung stated that Taiwan is “no longer Japan’s colony” and said Takaichi was “overreaching” and “reckless.”
“What does the Taiwan Strait situation have to do with Japan?” Hung wrote in a Facebook post.
Pan-Blue streamer Holger Chen commented similarly, stating in a livestream that Takaichi should “Shut up about Chinese affairs.” Pan-Blue groups also demonstrated outside of the Japan-Taiwan Exchange Association in Taipei, Japan’s representative office in the absence of formal diplomatic relations, in mid-November.
Chinese state-run media and diplomatic representatives have played up the pan-Blue demonstrations against Takaichi, China’s ambassador to Japan, Wu Jianghao, posted a Global Times clip on X whose headline read “people from all sectors in Taiwan Province are demanding that Sanae Takaichi apologize for her erroneous remarks.”
Taiwan’s representative to Japan, Lee Yi-yang, responded by posting survey data on X showing that 74.5 percent of Japanese felt a cultural affinity for Taiwan, while 89 percent have negative views of China. Lee wrote in his X post, “We sincerely appreciate that Japanese people do not conflate Taiwan with China.” The post received 2.9 million views and over 91,000 likes.
Still, even if the pushback against Takaichi seemed to mostly be pan-Blue, not every KMT politician joined in.
In the wake of Takaichi’s comments, newly elected KMT chair Cheng Li-wun – who has frequently made headlines since her victory through hardline views – focused her fire primarily on Lai Ching-te. In a Facebook post after Takaichi’s comments, Cheng criticized Lai as “adding fuel to the fire” of a potential cross-strait conflict. However, it is notable and significant that Cheng did not criticize Takaichi directly in her post and only attacked Lai – a sign that, in spite of frequently making the news for highly ideological comments, Cheng is a more strategic player than she sometimes lets on.
In a similar timeframe to her post, Cheng met not only with the de facto U.S. representative to Taiwan, Raymond Greene, but also with Japan’s representative to Taiwan, Katayama Kazuyuki. The latter meeting is particularly surprising given Cheng’s frequent emphasis on the history of the Sino-Japanese War in public comments.
It is also important to note that more moderate members of the KMT have actually echoed Lai’s actions in showing support for Japan. Photos of Japanese pop singer Ayumi Hamasaki performing to 14,000 empty seats after an abrupt cancellation of a planned performance and videos of “One Piece” theme singer Maki Otsuki having the plug pulled on her microphone mid-song were circulated widely in Taiwan.
While it may not be as surprising for DPP Kaohsiung mayor Chen Chi-mai to state that Kaohsiung would welcome Hamasaki to come perform in Taiwan, Taipei mayor Chiang Wan-an of the KMT stated the same. As Hamasaki had performed in Taipei in August, Chiang stated that he would welcome her to return.
Meanwhile, Taichung mayor Lu Shiow-yen, popularly seen as a frontrunner for the KMT’s 2028 presidential nomination, has not made any comment on Takaichi apart from a social media post in October congratulating her as a fellow female politician and Japan’s first female prime minister. Lu, also known historically as a moderate, is likely aiming to avoid offending any factions in the party to consolidate power for a probable run.
Takaichi is largely perceived in Japan as a leader in the mold of Abe Shinzo, who was popular in Taiwan among the pan-Green camp because of his overt support of Taiwan. Indeed, Takaichi has sought to depict herself as Abe’s successor. Efforts by China to attack her are, in fact, likely to increase her popularity in Taiwan. On the other hand, deep Blues are likely to depict Takaichi as a warmonger, in line with how they have depicted Lai and the DPP.
As a result, a war of perceptions over framings of Takaichi is taking shape in Taiwan. This perhaps more broadly reflects how perceptions of potential allies against a Chinese incursion are divided along partisan lines in Taiwan, as with the rise of “U.S.-skeptic discourse” in past years. Yet while the United States has long had a looming external influence on Taiwanese politics, it is rare for Japan to figure so powerfully when it comes to Taiwanese domestic politics as has occurred with Takaichi.