A Chinese takeover of Taiwan would make the threat to Japanese territory more acute, said Yuki Tatsumi, senior director at the U.S.-based Institute for Indo-Pacific Security. “Japan will no longer have a buffer, if you will,” she said, adding that it would face direct pressure from the Chinese navy.

China on Wednesday criticised countries expressing concern over its recent military drills near Taiwan, accusing them of hypocrisy and ignoring what Beijing calls external interference in its internal affairs.

Tensions are rising in Japan-China relations over Taiwan. It started with Prime Minister Takaichi Sanae’s statement to the Diet on November 7, 2025, in which she indicated that Japan could exercise its right of collective self-defense to mobilize the Self-Defense Forces if China used military force against Taiwan.

China considers Taiwan its own territory, a claim rejected by Taipei and contested by countries such as the United States and Japan, which back Taiwan’s security.