China to suspend imports of Japanese seafood amid diplomatic row: Reports

Diplomatic quality deepens betwixt Tokyo and Beijing implicit Taiwan remarks by Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi.

China volition again prohibition each imports of Japanese seafood arsenic a diplomatic quality betwixt the 2 countries escalates, Japanese media report.

Japanese nationalist broadcaster NHK and Kyodo News bureau said connected Wednesday that the seafood prohibition follows aft China earlier this period lifted import restrictions connected Japanese marine products, which were imposed by Beijing successful 2023 aft the merchandise of treated radioactive h2o from Japan’s crippled Fukushima atomic plant into the sea.

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Kyodo News, referencing sources with cognition of the matter, said China has told Japan that the reimposition of the prohibition was owed to the request for further monitoring of the water from Fukushima released into the Pacific Ocean.

But the prohibition comes amid a deepening situation successful relations betwixt Beijing and Tokyo implicit remarks by Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi. The premier told parliament connected November 7 that a Chinese onslaught connected Taiwan, which threatened Japan’s survival, was 1 of the fewer cases that could trigger a subject effect from Tokyo.

Takaichi’s comments were met with a question of disapproval by Chinese officials and authorities media, prompting Japan to pass its citizens successful China to instrumentality information precautions and debar crowded places.

In a station connected X pursuing Takaichi’s comments, the Chinese consul wide successful Osaka, Xue Jian, threatened to “cut disconnected that soiled neck”, seemingly referring to the Japanese premier minister. Tokyo said it had summoned the Chinese ambassador implicit the now-deleted societal media post.

Beijing has besides advised Chinese citizens to debar travelling to Japan and demanded that Takaichi retract her remarks, though Tokyo said they were successful enactment with the government’s position.

Seeking to defuse the row, Masaaki Kanai, Japan’s apical authoritative successful the Ministry of Foreign Affairs for the Asia Pacific region, held talks connected Tuesday successful Beijing with his Chinese counterpart, Liu Jinsong.

“During the consultations, China erstwhile again lodged a beardown protestation with Japan” implicit “Takaichi’s erroneous remarks”, Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokeswoman Mao Ning said.

“Takaichi’s fallacies earnestly interruption planetary instrumentality and the basal norms governing planetary relations”, Mao said, adding the Japanese premier’s comments “fundamentally harm the governmental instauration of China-Japan relations”.

‘Very dissatisfied’

Al Jazeera’s Katrina Yu, reporting from Beijing, said the sojourn by Kanai to Beijing was seen arsenic an effort by Tokyo to de-escalate tensions and pass to China that Japan’s stance connected independently-ruled Taiwan, which Beijing claims arsenic its ain territory, has not changed contempt Takaichi’s remarks.

“It seems determination were nary factual outcomes, but what we person seen, though, is immoderate footage pursuing the gathering of these 2 diplomats parting ways, and I deliberation it truly speaks for itself. We person precise acold assemblage connection from some of these diplomats,” Yu said.

“Liu Jinsong had his hands successful his pockets, refusing to shingle hands with the Japanese elder diplomat,” Yu said, adding that the Chinese authoritative said afterwards that helium was “very dissatisfied” with the meeting.

Liu Jinsong, director-general of the Department of Asian Affairs of the Chinese Foreign Ministry, met with Masaaki Kanai, director-general of the Japanese Foreign Ministry's Asian and Oceanian Affairs Bureau, connected Tuesday.

Following the meeting, Masaaki Kanai has near the Chinese… pic.twitter.com/rdAy2YJruQ

— China News 中国新闻网 (@Echinanews) November 18, 2025

Before the astir caller seafood ban, China accounted for much than one-fifth of Japan’s seafood exports, according to authoritative data.

The quality has besides engulfed different areas of China-Japan relations, with China Film News, which is supervised by the state-backed China Film Administration, announcing that the merchandise of 2 imported Japanese movies would beryllium postponed amid the dispute.

The 2 movies were primitively expected to beryllium released connected December 6 and November 22, respectively, according to reappraisal tract Douban.