China’s access to Japan’s coveted industrial-use goods – especially a critical chipmaking ingredient – may face hurdles if Tokyo imposes export restrictions in the event of a prolonged political dispute,

China launched an investigation into a chemical gas used in making semiconductors, a day after it imposed curbs on the export of so-called dual-use goods that could be used by Japan’s military.

China and Japan are bound together by trade and geography, but a long history of rivalry and unresolved disputes makes even periods of cooperation fragile.

Tensions between Tokyo and Beijing remain high after Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi expressed support for Taiwan in November 2025. Social media posts shared fabricated images of signboards at Japan's Narita International Airport that appear to direct travellers from "Taiwan" and "China" to separate lanes for immigration clearance,

Masayuki Masuda, who leads the China division at Japan’s National Institute for Defense Studies, and John Chuan Tiong Lim, a research fellow at Tokyo University’s Institute for Advanced Studies on Asia, discussed the deadlock at the Foreign Correspondents’ Club of Japan.

TAIPEI: A China-born Japanese lawmaker sanctioned by Beijing arrived in Taipei on Tuesday (Jan 6), vowing to tell the world that "Taiwan is an independent country".Hei Seki, a member of Japan's parliament,

Japan’s new Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi set off a diplomatic firestorm with China in November when she speculated over the potential for military action in relation to Taiwan.

Seki studied philosophy at Peking University before moving to Japan in 1988, where he attended graduate school at Kobe University, earning a doctorate in cultural studies. Later, he was a university lecturer, political commentator and author of Japanese-language books, including one on “why I abandoned China.”