Xi Criticized Japan's Rearmament to Trump, Catching US Officials Off Guard

12 articles · Updated · Bloomberg · May 25

Xi Jinping sharply criticized Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi's military buildup push during his Beijing summit with Donald Trump, with the exchange described as the meeting's most heated moment.
Financial Times said Xi grew vocal and agitated over Japan's rising defense spending, surprising US officials because Japan had not been expected to feature in the bilateral talks.
Trump had already pushed back on Xi's criticism of Takaichi at the summit, according to an earlier Yomiuri report, defending the Japanese leader after Xi cast her as a threat to regional peace.
The episode underscores how Japan's rearmament and Taiwan-related tensions are increasingly spilling into top-level US-China diplomacy.

Is Japan's hardline stance on Taiwan a calculated deterrent or a miscalculation that risks triggering a devastating regional war?

As Japan rapidly rearms, what are the unforeseen costs for a region so reliant on deeply intertwined Sino-Japanese trade?