appConfigEntityId

bodyType

customContents

entityId

entityUuid

articlePageQuery

filter

article

articleBaseAdvertisingInfoArticle

articleListArticle

articleSeoArticle

hooksArticleAcknowledgementGateOverlayArticle

hooksTrackPageViewArticle

hooksContentInterestArticle

articleLinkingDataContent

hooksAmpRedirectArticle

articleSchemaContent

hooksArticlePageAdvertisementConfigArticle

liveArticle

appConfig

advertZone

sentiment

contentLock

topics

types

sections

paywallTypes

createdDate

publishedDate

sponsorType

urlAlias

moreOnThisArticles

sectionsV2

commentCount

authorLocations

authors

corrections

displaySlideShow

multimediaEmbed

printHeadline

seriesContainer

articleSpeeches

socialHeadline

headline

images

flag

firstTopic

glossary

flattenTypeIds

image

relatedLinks

relatedNewsletters

__typename

sponsor

pdfFiles

seriesReverseOrder

series

disableOffPlatformContent

published

updatedDate

summary

subHeadline

body

keywords

readingTime

customTimezone

liveContents

json

Alcott Wei

China criticised Japan for sending a warship through the Taiwan Strait on Friday, just days after Tokyo announced its troops would join a major US-Philippine military drill for the first time.
Foreign Ministry spokesman Guo Jiakun said the entry of a Japanese Self-Defence Force vessel into the strait was a “deliberate provocation.” He added that Beijing had lodged a “strong protest” with Tokyo.
“The Chinese military has dealt with this incident in accordance with regulations,” Guo said.
“[The incident] once again exposes the dangerous plot of some people in Japan to intervene militarily in the Taiwan Strait and undermine peace and stability there.”
Tokyo has not yet responded to Beijing’s protest.
The Chinese military later identified the warship as the Ikazuchi, a destroyer that Japan had said previously would join the military drill.
Senior Colonel Xu Chenghua, spokesman for the Eastern Theatre Command, said that this incident “sent a wrong signal to the ‘Taiwan independence’ separatist forces”.
“The PLA Eastern Theatre Command organised naval and air forces to track, monitor, and maintain vigilance throughout the entire process, implementing effective regulation and control,” Xu added.


At the foreign ministry, Guo also again criticised Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi’s remarks in November that a conflict with Taiwan could lead to a Japanese military intervention, saying the comments were “severely impacting Sino-Japanese relations”.
Tensions between Beijing and Tokyo have remained high since Takaichi made that statement. Since then, China has restricted the export of dual-use items, tightened rules around rare earth exports and issued travel warnings for Chinese citizens.
Beijing sees Taiwan as part of China to be reunited by force if necessary. Most countries, including the United States and Japan, do not recognise Taiwan as an independent state, but the two nations are opposed to any attempt to take the self-governed island by force.
“The Taiwan issue concerns China’s sovereignty and territorial integrity, the political foundation of China-Japanese relations, and is an inviolable red line. China once again urges Japan to earnestly reflect on its mistakes and correct them,” Guo said.
On Tuesday, Japan’s Joint Staff Office announced that the country’s military would take part in the annual Balikatan military drill, which begins on April 20.
While Japan has sent observers to Balikatan since 2012 – and took part last year with a limited presence – it will be the third-largest troop contributor after the US and the Philippines this year.
The Japanese Self-Defence Forces will deploy about 1,400 personnel, multiple warships, aircraft and Type 88 anti-ship missile systems. The exercise will take place on northern Luzon Island as well as in the South China Sea and waters near the Taiwan Strait.
This will also be the first time that Japan has sent combat troops to the Philippines since it occupied the country in World War II.
Japan’s Ministry of Defence revealed that it would send one of its biggest warships, the helicopter destroyer JS Ise, along with the landing ship JS Shimokita and the Ikazuchi.
Japan’s ruling Liberal Democratic Party has pushed revisions to the country’s policy framework to allow a more proactive military posture – a shift condemned by China as a revival of the militarist ideology that led Japan to attack its neighbours in World War II.
Japan’s post-war pacifist constitution renounces the use of war as a means of settling disputes and bans the country from firing the first shot in any conflict. The present government is committed to rewriting the constitution, though it has not specified which articles it wants to alter.


China slams Japan for sending warship through Taiwan Strait

What does Japan’s role in a US-Philippine military drill mean for Taiwan?

Can Japan’s US$10b energy shield oust China’s influence in Southeast Asia?

China says Tokyo embassy intrusion, bomb threat are among ‘grave violations’ in Japan

China-Japan relations

The Japanese Self-Defence Forces will send approximately 1,400 personnel, multiple warships, aircraft and Type 88 anti-ship missile systems to the annual US-Philippine military drills next week. Photo: AP

The Japan Self-Defence Forces will deploy about 1,400 personnel for the Balikatan exercise, an annual large-scale joint military drill between the Philippines and the United States. Photo: Shutterstock

Philippine Marine Colonel Dennis Hernandez (centre) gives a briefing on the Balikatan joint military exercise, in Quezon City on Tuesday. Photo: EPA

A Type 88 missile is launched during a live-fire test by the Japan Ground Self-Defence Force off the coast of Hokkaido, Japan, on June 24, 2025. Photo: AFP/Japan Ground Self-Defence Force

A police officer stands guard at an entrance to the Chinese embassy in Tokyo on March 25, 2026, a day after a man was apprehended for allegedly trespassing onto the grounds of the embassy. Photo: AFP

Should China be worried as Japan starts replacing helicopters with drones?

Japan plans to gradually replace its fleet of Apache helicopters with drones. Photo: Reuters

Japan has previously tested Turkish-made Bayraktar TB2 drones. Photo: AP 

Beijing sanctions Japanese lawmaker for ‘colluding with Taiwan independence forces’

Sanctioned Japanese politician Keiji Furuya is chairman of the Japan-ROC Diet Members’ Consultative Council, a cross-party Japan-Taiwan lawmakers’ group. Photo: Kyodo

News

China

Diplomacy

Beijing calls move a ‘deliberate provocation’ that undermines peace and stability in the strait


Beijing calls move a ‘deliberate provocation’ that undermines peace and stability in the strait.


Japan

Taiwan

Sanae Takaichi

China slams Japan for sending warship through Taiwan Strait

.css-1c6uqr6{color:inherit;font-weight:inherit;font-size:inherit;font-family:inherit;line-height:inherit;overflow-wrap:break-word;}Beijing calls move a ‘deliberate provocation’ that undermines peace and stability in the strait

Beijing calls move a ‘deliberate provocation’ that undermines peace and stability in the strait