Trump advises Takaichi not to provoke China on Taiwan: WSJ

TOKYO: US President Donald Trump advised Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi not to provoke China over Taiwan’s sovereignty, the Wall Street Journal reported Thursday, after a diplomatic spat between Tokyo and Beijing.

The row between Asia’s two biggest economies began after Takaichi said that Tokyo could intervene militarily in any attack on the self-ruled island, which China claims as part of its territory.

In a phone call with Trump on Monday, Chinese leader Xi Jinping pressed the issue, saying Taiwan’s return was an “integral part of the post-war international order”, according to China’s foreign ministry.

Shortly after, “Trump set up a call with Takaichi and advised her not to provoke Beijing on the question of the island’s sovereignty”, the WSJ reported, citing Japanese officials and an American briefed on the call.

“The advice from Trump was subtle, and he didn’t pressure Takaichi to walk back her comments,” the WSJ report added.

A spokeswoman for Takaichi’s office declined to comment when contacted by AFP.

Beijing, which has threatened to use force to take Taiwan, responded furiously to Takaichi’s comments, summoning Tokyo’s ambassador and advising Chinese citizens against travelling to Japan.

On Wednesday, the Chinese embassy in Japan again warned people to be careful, saying there had been a surge in crime and that Chinese citizens had reported “being insulted, beaten and injured for no reason”.

Japan’s foreign ministry denied any increase in crime, citing figures from the National Police Agency showing that from January to October this year, the number of murders had halved compared to the same period in 2024.

In her reporting of the call with Trump, Takaichi said they discussed the US president’s conversation with Xi, as well as bilateral relations.

“President Trump said we are very close friends, and he offered that I should feel free to call him anytime,” she said.

But according to the WSJ, “the Japanese officials said the message was worrying”.

“The president didn’t want friction over Taiwan to endanger a detente reached last month with Xi, which includes a promise to buy more agricultural products from American farmers hit hard by the trade war.”