Xi attacked Japan's rearmament

Xi Jinping used his May 14 meeting with Donald Trump in Beijing to raise a subject that was not expected to dominate a U.S.-China summit: Japan. The Financial Times reported, and Bloomberg followed, that Xi criticized Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi’s rearmament push and became heated when discussing Tokyo’s military trajectory with Trump. Bloomberg said U.S. officials were surprised because Japan had not featured prominently in the bilateral talks leading up to the summit. China’s public readout of the meeting did not mention Japan, instead emphasizing what Xi called a “constructive China-U.S. relationship of strategic stability.” ### Why did Japan come up in a Trump-Xi summit at all? The May 14-15 summit in Beijing was formally billed around U.S.-China ties, but the reported exchange showed Xi treating Japan as part of that argument. The Financial Times account, as summarized by Bloomberg, said Xi attacked Japan’s “remilitarisation” and criticized Takaichi by name during the meeting. (bloomberg.com) The Yomiuri Shimbun, citing sources close to the Japanese government, separately reported that Japan-China tensions were on the agenda and that Xi urged Trump not to support Takaichi and Taiwanese President Lai Ching-te. The paper said Trump defended Takaichi during the discussion. ### What, exactly, is Beijing objecting to? Japan’s Ministry of Defense says its current planning includes “Fundamental Reinforcement of Defense Capabilities” and has published FY2025 and FY2026 budget materials under that heading. (news.bloomberglaw.com) Those documents sit within Tokyo’s broader effort to increase defense spending and expand capabilities in response to pressure from China, North Korea and Russia. Bloomberg’s summary of the FT report said Xi focused on Japan’s increased military spending. (japannews.yomiuri.co.jp) The wording matters because Beijing has long criticized any Japanese move away from its postwar restraint, but the reported summit exchange suggests Xi chose to press that complaint directly with the U.S. president rather than leave it as a bilateral China-Japan dispute. (mod.go.jp) ### Why does Sanae Takaichi matter in this dispute? Sanae Takaichi’s name appeared in the reporting because Xi’s criticism was not framed only at Japan in the abstract. Bloomberg, citing the FT, said Xi criticized Takaichi for her rearmament push. Yomiuri reported that Xi singled her out by name and cast her, along with Lai, as a threat to regional peace. (bloomberg.com) The Yomiuri report also linked the friction to Takaichi’s November 2025 remarks in Japan’s Diet about a Taiwan contingency. That paper said the Beijing summit was the first face-to-face Trump-Xi meeting since China’s backlash to those remarks. ### Did the official Chinese account mention any of this? China’s Foreign Ministry readout of the May 14 talks did not mention Japan. (news.bloomberglaw.com) The official statement said Xi and Trump discussed building a “constructive China-U.S. relationship of strategic stability,” managing differences and sustaining positive momentum in economic and trade ties. That gap between the official readout and the press reporting is important as a factual matter: the public Chinese version stressed bilateral stability, while the outside accounts said one of the most heated moments concerned a third country. (japannews.yomiuri.co.jp) Bloomberg said several people described Xi’s criticism of Japan as the most heated part of the summit. (mfa.gov.cn) ### Was this just a side issue, or part of the broader summit? The East Asia Forum’s Hitoshi Tanaka wrote that the May 14-15 summit was a tactical détente rather than a resolution of deeper tensions, with Taiwan still central to the relationship. That analysis did not establish the Japan exchange itself, but it fits the broader record that regional security issues remained embedded in the meeting. (bloomberg.com) The next public markers are likely to come from Tokyo rather than Beijing or Washington. Japan’s Ministry of Defense is already publishing FY2026 budget materials, and any further detail on spending, missile deployments or alliance planning will show how Tokyo presents the buildup that Xi reportedly challenged in Beijing. (mod.go.jp) (eastasiaforum.org)