RPT-Japan to drop 'most important' tag for China ties

By Tamiyuki Kihara

TOKYO, March 24 (Reuters) - Japan will downgrade its description of ties with China from "one of its most important" in an annual diplomatic report, according to a draft reviewed by Reuters, as relations with Beijing worsen.

The 2026 Diplomatic Bluebook, which Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi's government is expected to approve next month, will instead describe China as an important neighbour and the relationship as "strategic" and "mutually beneficial."

The draft cites a series of confrontations with Beijing over the past year, including export controls on rare earths, radar lock-ons targeting Japanese military aircraft and increased pressure around Taiwan.

The shift in tone underscores a deterioration in ties that has become entrenched since November, when Takaichi angered Beijing by saying that Japan could deploy its military if a Chinese move against neighbouring Taiwan also threatened its territory.

Beijing responded by reimposing restrictions on Japanese seafood imports, urging its citizens to avoid travel to Japan and announcing curbs on rare earths and critical minerals used in electronic components.

Takaichi has said her remarks were in ​line with a decade-old security law, while a report by U.S. intelligence ⁠agencies last week said she had sharply departed from the rhetoric of previous Japanese leaders. Her government rejected that assessment.

In a speech to parliament last month, Takaichi warned of Chinese "coercion" and mounting economic and security threats posed by Beijing and its regional partners Russia and North Korea.

During a meeting between U.S. President Donald Trump and Takaichi at the White House on Thursday, Tokyo and Washington unveiled a joint action plan to develop alternatives to China for ​critical minerals and rare earths supply chains.