Chinese leader Xi Jinping strongly criticized Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi over Japan’s “remilitarization” during his summit with U.S. President Donald Trump in Beijing earlier this month, according to a media report.
The conversation, which saw Xi become visibly agitated and vocal over Japan’s increased defense spending, was among the most heated parts of the U.S.-China leaders summit, the Financial Times reported, citing unidentified sources.
Trump administration officials were taken aback by the diatribe, as Japan did not feature in their talks with their Chinese counterparts ahead of the summit.
The U.S. president told Xi that Takaichi has had to take a more aggressive approach to security amid the growing threat from nuclear-armed North Korea, the FT said. It was unclear if Trump had mentioned China — Japan’s biggest security concern.
The Yomiuri Shimbun daily and Kyodo News reported a similar outburst by Xi, saying that Trump had defended Takaichi in a move that senior Japanese officials said highlighted the allies’ solidarity.
Trump called Takaichi from Air Force One “immediately after” his summit with Xi, with the U.S. leader offering a “detailed explanation” of the summit. Takaichi did not offer more details of the call, but said she had expressed her “deep gratitude for the tremendous support” Japan had received.
Speaking at a regular news conference Monday, the government’s top spokesman, Chief Cabinet Secretary Minoru Kihara, declined to comment on the reports, but emphasized the importance of the Takaichi-Trump phone call.
Japan has undertaken dramatic changes in its defense policy in recent years amid China’s rapid military modernization and its ongoing moves near democratic Taiwan, as well as nuclear-armed North Korea’s unprecedented flurry of missile launches and Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
Under Takaichi’s watch, Japan has made progress toward its goal of bringing defense spending to 2% of gross domestic product, with the defense-related budget for the fiscal year through next March set to rise to just short of that threshold, at 1.9% of GDP.
The prime minister has also overseen the easing earlier this month of restrictions on the export of lethal defense equipment, while weighing revisions to Tokyo’s decades-old pledge not to produce, possess or host nuclear weapons over apparent concerns about the United States’ commitment to maintaining its “nuclear umbrella” over Japan.
All of these moves have been criticized by China, which claims that Tokyo is lurching toward “neo-militarism.”
Kihara disputed this characterization, calling China’s claims “entirely unfounded.”
“Our exclusively defense-oriented policy remains unchanged, and the capabilities we maintain are kept to the absolute minimum necessary,” Kihara said.
“Japan’s path as a peaceful nation since the end of the war will not change in the future,” he added.
Beijing has taken a particularly strident tone…