PM Takaichi says Japan 'always open' to dialogue with China

AFP

AFP

17 December 2025 | 9:36

‘China is an important neighbour for Japan, and we need to build constructive and stable relationships,’ Takaichi told a news conference.

PM Takaichi says Japan 'always open' to dialogue with China

Sanae Takaichi, the newly-elected leader of Japan's ruling party, the Liberal Democratic Party (LDP), attends a press conference after the LDP presidential election in Tokyo on 4 October 2025. Picture: Yuichi YAMAZAKI / POOL / AFP

TOKYO - Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi said on Wednesday she is "always open" to dialogue with China amid a diplomatic row between Tokyo and Beijing over comments she made about Taiwan.

"China is an important neighbour for Japan, and we need to build constructive and stable relationships," Takaichi told a news conference.

"Japan is always open to dialogue with China. We're not shutting our door."

China and Japan are enmeshed in a spat over Takaichi's suggestion in November that Tokyo could intervene militarily in any attack on the self-ruled democratic island.

China claims Taiwan as part of its territory and has threatened to use force to bring it under its control.

The comments triggered a sharp diplomatic backlash from Beijing, which has urged its citizens to avoid travelling to Japan.

Chinese military aircraft locked radar onto Japanese jets in the latest incident this month, prompting Tokyo to summon Beijing's ambassador.

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