China's top diplomat Wang Yi stated that relations with Japan have deteriorated to a low point unseen in decades, requiring normalization. The comments came during a meeting with a Japanese delegation led by former Foreign Minister Takeshi Iwaya. Wang cited Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi's November remarks linking a Taiwan crisis with possible troop deployment as the source of Beijing's anger.

China demands Takaichi "correct" her remarks, viewing them as an affront to its claims on Taiwan and a violation of bilateral ties. Beijing has frozen diplomatic contact, regarding Iwaya's visit as unofficial. Wang described the Association for the Promotion of International Trade as a civil-society group and called on it to steer Tokyo toward the "right choice." Three lawmakers visited Beijing in late August.

Iwaya, a moderate who served under Takaichi's predecessor, took over the association after Yohei Kono's death. Chief Cabinet Secretary Minoru Kihara declined to comment, emphasizing the need for communication. Japanese Trade Minister Ryosei Akazawa refrained from commenting, noting Iwaya is not part of the administration but is open to dialogue.

The meeting occurred days after President Xi Jinping pressed Beijing's positions on Taiwan and Japan during a summit with Donald Trump, invoking the shared fight against Imperial Japan to portray changes in Tokyo's security policy as a revival of militarism. China has protested Japan's efforts to raise defense spending and revise its pacifist constitution, calling them signs of a return to militarism. Tokyo dismisses these criticisms as hypocritical.

In his meeting with Iwaya, Wang praised former Foreign Minister Yohei Kono for confronting Japan's past and warned Tokyo would be unable to "face the world" if it erased its history of aggression or glorified convicted war criminals.