Is Japan trying to build bridges with China after Taiwan spat?

A delegation of Japanese politicians has travelled to Beijing this week in what observers say may be a bid to improve relations amid one of the worst rifts with China since the 1970s.

Among those in Japan’s delegation is Gaku Hashimoto, a member of the House of Representatives and Takaichi’s ruling Liberal Democratic Party (LDP), alongside lawmakers from the opposition Komeito and Centrist Reform Alliance parties.

A diplomatic spat began in November last year when Japan’s Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi said if China were to attack Taiwan, it could “constitute a survival-threatening situation” for Japan that would justify the use of force.

Her comments angered Beijing. The next day, Xue Jian, China’s consul general in Osaka, wrote on X: “We have no choice but cut off that dirty neck that has been lunged at us without hesitation”, alongside an article about Takaichi. The post was later deleted.

Tokyo lodged a protest and asked for him to be disciplined; Beijing refused, and instead warned its citizens against travel to Japan alongside tightened trade restrictions.

This year, China ramped up tensions further, restricting exports of dual-use goods and rare earth materials which are necessary for building many high-tech products from smartphones to fighter jets.

So why is a Japanese delegation visiting China this week, and does Japan need China more than it may care to admit?

Baked into this diplomatic spat are longstanding grievances between the two nations, traceable to the late 19th century.