“There’s nothing left to do but cut off this dirty head without hesitation”: China and Japan bare their teeth at each other

TokyoThe honeymoon of Sanae Takaichi, the first woman to hold the position of head of government of Japan, It has vanished abruptly. A statement he made in response to a parliamentary question in the Diet, Japan's parliament, in which he warned that a Chinese attack on Taiwan could jeopardize the country's survival and justify a joint military response with the United States, sparked a diplomatic crisis with unpredictable consequences. Beijing denounced the statements as "gross interference" in its affairs and reacted with unprecedented vehemence.

The situation worsened with a tweet from the Chinese consul in Osaka, which broke diplomatic protocol and issued an explicit threat: "There's nothing left to do but cut off this dirty head without hesitation," referring to Takaichi. Tokyo declared the diplomat persona non grata The gravity of the statement elevated the dispute to a level the country hadn't experienced in decades. Adding to this was Beijing's decision to postpone the Tokyo-Beijing forum and announce that Chinese Premier Li Qiang would not hold his planned meeting with Takaichi on the sidelines of the G20 summit.

The clash erupted unexpectedly when Takaichi declared during a regular question time session of the Japanese Parliament that a Chinese attack on Taiwan—located about 100 kilometers from Japanese territory—would constitute "a situation that threatens Japan's survival" and open the door to a possible [conflict/military takeover]. This statement broke with the traditional prudence of Japanese leaders, who have historically avoided linking Taiwan to direct defense commitments. At a time when Beijing is not ruling out the use of force to seize the island and increases the intensity and complexity of its military maneuversTakaichi's words resonated strongly, both in Tokyo and in Washington, where the policy of "strategic ambiguity" remains the cornerstone of the Pentagon's approach to a hypothetical conflict in the strait. The crisis took on a new dimension when US President Donald Trump, responding to a question about the incident in a Fox News interview, avoided condemning Beijing and instead criticized the Japanese position. "Our allies have exploited us more in trade than China," he stated, sowing the perception in Tokyo that the main guarantor of Japanese defense was publicly calling into question the strength of its alliances. The US president, focused on redefining relations with traditional allies and unwilling to take risks that could further strain relations with Beijing, made it clear that he was not prepared to play that game. "Warrior Wolf Diplomacy"

For many analysts, China's response evokes episodes of so-called "wolf warrior diplomacy," the combative and theatrical style some Chinese diplomats employed on social media in early 2020 during the pandemic. Despite Beijing's subsequent attempts to moderate its tone and regain goodwill in the West, the state propaganda machine has seized the opportunity to amplify domestic outrage. Official media outlets such as People's Daily They accused Takaichi of "speaking out of turn" and warned that anyone who crosses Taiwan's red line will face consequences. Hu Xijin, former editor of Global TimesHe went even further, referring directly to the rhetoric of the Chinese diplomat in Osaka: "China's war blade, sharpened to a lethal edge, is ready to behead invaders. If Japanese militarism wants to come to the Taiwan Strait to sacrifice itself to our knives,"

Behind the rhetoric, however, lies the shadow of real power. China has invested years in expanding and diversifying its arsenal of rockets and missiles with systems such as the DF-21, DF-26 and the hypersonic DF-17.capabilities that, according to Pentagon reports and think tanks Specialized units can cover American bases, major cities, and the entire Japanese archipelago in a matter of minutes.

Following the verbal escalation, the Japanese government opted for a containment-based diplomacy on Monday: Masaaki Kanai, the Foreign Secretary responsible for Asian and Oceanian Affairs, traveled to Beijing to try to calm tensions and reiterate that Japanese security policy has not changed. "Several channels of communication are open," stressed the Japanese government spokesperson, who formally requested that Beijing take the "appropriate steps" to avoid breaking off bilateral relations. However, this request clashes with a hardening stance from the Chinese government, which is demanding a public retraction from Tokyo.

This crisis has left Takaichi politically isolated and strategically vulnerable, while also raising a broader question: to what extent can poorly calibrated public statements exponentially transform a rhetorical conflict into a crisis with unpredictable global consequences?