China’s Xi attacked Japan’s rearmament during Trump summit, says report

Chinese leader Xi Jinping criticised Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi for her remilitarisation push during his summit with US President Donald Trump in Beijing, the Financial Times reported, citing people familiar with the meeting.

Mr Xi became vocal and agitated when discussing Japan’s increased military spending with Mr Trump during the summit earlier in May, the report said, surprising US officials.

Several people said Mr Xi’s criticism was the most heated part of the summit, the report said, adding that Trump administration officials were caught off guard as Japan did not feature as a topic in bilateral talks leading up to the summit.  

Mr Trump told Mr Xi that Ms Takaichi had to take a more assertive security stance because of the rising threat from North Korea, the report said.

Japan has recently scrapped most restrictions around the sale of military hardware, and Ms Takaichi has signalled a softening of its anti-nuclear-weapon principles, which have also drawn rebukes from China.

Ms Takaichi and Mr Trump spoke on the phone after the China summit and agreed to communicate on key matters in the Indo-Pacific region, but neither government provided details on what was discussed. 

Japan’s Chief Cabinet Secretary Minoru Kihara declined to comment on the report on May 25, saying that Japan was not in a position to speak on the matter, given that it was not directly involved.

“I will decline from commenting further on the matter, given this is a diplomatic matter,” he said, although he noted that Ms Takaichi has said Mr Trump “supported Japan” during the meeting with Mr Xi.

Mr Kihara also said China’s claims that there was a rise in militarism in Japan were “entirely unfounded”.

“There is no change to our policy in pursuing peace,” he said, adding that the extent of Japan’s recent boost in defence capabilities is limited to the bare minimum.

Relations between Beijing and Tokyo remain tense following Ms Takaichi’s remarks in 2025 suggesting that a Chinese invasion of Taiwan may justify Japan deploying its military. 

China has imposed a series of measures in retaliation, including trade curbs and discouraging travel to Japan. Chinese leadership sees Taiwan as part of its own territory and has not ruled out using force to bring the self-ruled island under its control.

Japanese Trade Minister Ryosei Akazawa and Chinese Commerce Minister Wang Wentao had a brief chat on May 22, the first ministerial-level exchange of words between the two nations since a diplomatic stand-off began in November.

Mr Akazawa said he approached Mr Wang at a dinner of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation’s trade chiefs in Suzhou, China. He declined to say what they discussed when he spoke to reporters on May 23.

Ms Takaichi and other members of her government have maintained that Japan remains open to discussion and communication with China since the stand-off, but there have been no official high-level meetings between the two countries in recent months. BLOOMBERG