China Reimposes Ban on Japanese Seafood as Diplomatic Clash Intensifies

China is moving to shut its doors once again to Japanese seafood, according to Japanese media, reigniting a trade freeze that Tokyo thought it had just escaped.

NHK and Kyodo News reported on Wednesday that Beijing has informed Japan it will reintroduce a full ban on marine imports. The move comes only weeks after China lifted the previous restrictions imposed in 2023, when Japan began releasing treated radioactive water from the Fukushima nuclear plant into the Pacific Ocean.

Kyodo, citing sources familiar with the talks, said China framed the renewed ban as a “monitoring” necessity for Fukushima’s water discharge. But the timing tells a bigger story: relations between the two countries have sharply deteriorated following remarks by Japan’s new prime minister, Sanae Takaichi.

On November 7, Takaichi told parliament that a Chinese attack on Taiwan threatening Japan’s survival could trigger Tokyo’s military response, one of the few scenarios that meets Japan’s legal threshold for the use of force. Beijing’s reaction was instant and furious.

Chinese officials and state media blasted the comments, prompting Japan to issue a safety notice to its citizens in China, advising them to stay alert and avoid crowded areas. The situation escalated further when China’s consul general in Osaka, Xue Jian, posted, and later deleted, a message on X threatening to “cut off that dirty neck,” apparently referring to Takaichi. Tokyo summoned China’s ambassador over the remark.

Beijing has meanwhile urged Chinese citizens to avoid travel to Japan and demanded that Takaichi retract her comments. Tokyo said she merely restated standing government policy.

Trying to cool things down, Japan sent Masaaki Kanai, its top Asia-Pacific diplomat, to Beijing for talks with Chinese envoy Liu Jinsong. But China did not soften its position. Ministry spokeswoman Mao Ning said Beijing had issued another protest, calling Takaichi’s words “erroneous remarks” that “seriously violate international law and the basic norms governing international relations.” She added that the prime minister’s stance “fundamentally damages the political foundation of China-Japan relations.”