January 9, 2026
BEIJING – China has charged that Japan’s expanding nuclear ambitions under its right-leaning Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi are threatening world peace and stability, amid a deepening diplomatic stand-off between the neighbours.
Beijing has in recent days rolled out export bans and a trade probe, tightening pressure on Tokyo’s economic and security interests.
On Jan 8, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Mao Ning said at a regular press briefing that the new Japanese government “has not hesitated to reveal” the nuclear ambitions of Japan’s right-wing forces.
This, she noted, is a dangerous signal of the resurgence of Japanese militarism and poses a serious threat to world peace and stability.
She urged Japan to heed the call of the international community for justice, immediately clarify its position on the issue of nuclear weapons and abide by its obligations under the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT) and its three non-nuclear principles.
The NPT is a global treaty aimed at curbing the proliferation of nuclear arms, and Japan’s three non-nuclear principles adopted in the post-war era commit it to not possessing, producing or permitting the introduction of such weapons.
Ms Mao’s comments followed the release of a new research report by two Chinese think-tanks on Dec 8, calling for heightened international vigilance over what it outlined as Japan’s rising right-wing nuclear ambitions.
Ms Mao also said that senior Japanese officials, including Ms Takaichi herself, had sought the revision of the country’s three non-nuclear principles, implied the introduction of nuclear-powered submarines, and called for boosting of the “extended deterrence” that Japan receives from its ally the US and openly claimed that Japan should possess nuclear weapons.
These concerns echoed those in the research report.
At a press conference to launch the report, China Arms Control and Disarmament Association secretary-general Dai Huicheng had said that the statements by various Japanese officials were “not isolated or personal views”.
“These are a series of remarks by Japan meant to test international reactions and to challenge the bottom line of the world,” he said.
China and Japan have been locked in a diplomatic spat for more than two months after Ms Takaichi said on Nov 7, 2025, that any use of force by Beijing against self-governing Taiwan, which China claims as its own, could justify a military response from Tokyo.
Beijing has slammed her remarks as “provocative” and demanded that she withdraw her “erroneous” statements, a demand Ms Takaichi has so far not met.
Beijing has since signalled that its response would not be confined to rhetoric.
On Jan 6, China’s Commerce Ministry announced a ban on exports of dual-use items to Japan if the authorities determine that the end users or end use would contribute to enhancing Japanese military capabilities. It did not specify the items that may be affected by the ban.
Dual-use items are goods, software or technology with both civilian and military applications, and include certain rare earth magnets that are used in electric vehicles, wind turbines and defence-related equipment such as radar systems.
Mr Chen Yang, a research fellow at Chinese think-tank Charhar Institute, said the ambiguity over the scope of the restrictions was itself part of the pressure on Japan.
By not defining which dual-use items are covered, Beijing is introducing uncertainty that could complicate business expectations and investment planning, which would weigh on Japan’s economy.
“These could be rare earths, which Japan is most concerned about, but they could also involve a much broader range of raw materials, technologies, chemical products and so on,” said Mr Chen, who is an expert on Sino-Japanese ties.
Also on Jan 6, Chinese state media outlet China Daily reported, citing unnamed sources, that Beijing was considering tightening export permit reviews for certain rare earth products to Japan.
China’s Commerce Ministry spokesman He Yadong on Jan 8 clarified that the export ban on dual-use items will affect only military firms and not civilian users.
However, Mr He did not specify whether rare earths were covered under the restrictions. Neither did he comment when asked about the state media report and if the Commerce Ministry was weighing whether to tighten rare earth export licences to Japan.
Japan’s Vice-Foreign Minister Takehiro Funakoshi on Jan 8 strongly protested to China’s Ambassador to Japan Wu Jianghao about the ban and demanded that China withdraw the measures.
His demands were rejected, the Chinese embassy said in a statement.
Beijing on Jan 7 launched an anti-dumping probe into Japanese exports of dichlorosilane, a critical chipmaking chemical used in semiconductor manufacturing.
The Chinese Commerce Ministry said the investigation was initiated at the request of a domestic firm, which alleged that dumped imports had harmed China’s industry.
A widespread curb on rare earth exports to Japan could have a severe impact if realised, observers said.
Beijing has used rare earths as leverage against Tokyo before, in 2010 during a diplomatic crisis over the Senkaku/Diaoyu islands, when shipments of rare earths to Japan were disrupted, sending shockwaves through Japan’s manufacturing sector.
Since then, Japan has been working to diversify its supply sources away from China.
Charhar Institute’s Mr Chen said Beijing’s actions in the last few days clearly signalled an escalation from “verbal protests” to “substantive countermeasures”.
He said the dual-use item ban and the research report together formed a coordinated message showing that Beijing is prepared to deploy both economic tools and narrative framing to push back against Japan’s right wing and what it sees as an increasingly assertive security posture.
“China is tearing off the right wing’s disguise of Japan as a ‘peaceful country’,” he said.