WEBVTT - All Eyes on Japan and China Tensions After Taiwan Remark 0:00:02.720 --> 0:00:07.200 Bloomberg Audio Studios, podcasts, radio news. 0:00:08.520 --> 0:00:12.760 Tensions between Japan and China are escalating sharply over Taiwan 0:00:12.840 --> 0:00:17.000 Biden risk. This diplomatic spat shows no signs afe cancy 0:00:17.600 --> 0:00:19.200 of easing and this back and forth. 0:00:19.280 --> 0:00:23.279 Relations between China and Japan have never been easy, but 0:00:23.400 --> 0:00:25.160 right now they're in the dumps. 0:00:25.480 --> 0:00:29.639 China had canceled this trilateral meeting between the culture ministers, 0:00:29.760 --> 0:00:32.920 and in the meantime, Japan's Defense minister is saying that 0:00:33.040 --> 0:00:37.000 Japan will plan to deploy some missiles from Yunaguni, which 0:00:37.080 --> 0:00:39.640 is an island just one hundred kilometers to the east 0:00:39.720 --> 0:00:41.800 of Taiwan, a very strategic location. 0:00:42.240 --> 0:00:45.519 The cause of all this tension are remarked by Japan's 0:00:45.560 --> 0:00:50.080 new Prime Minister Sanai Takichi. In response to a question 0:00:50.159 --> 0:00:54.560 in the parliament earlier this month, Takiichi linked Japan's security 0:00:54.960 --> 0:00:57.360 with the territorial integrity of Taiwan. 0:00:57.680 --> 0:01:01.440 Takaichi is probably the first prim start to actually explicitly 0:01:01.520 --> 0:01:04.800 say that an attack on Taiwan could be an existential 0:01:04.840 --> 0:01:08.280 crisis for Japan, which gives in the legal justification to 0:01:08.400 --> 0:01:09.560 lean in militarily. 0:01:10.080 --> 0:01:14.120 Japan and China have a long and tense history, often 0:01:14.160 --> 0:01:19.039 marked by disputes over wartime grievances and territorial claims. But 0:01:19.160 --> 0:01:23.440 James Mager, Bloomberg Senior reporter based in Beijing, and Isabelle Reynolds, 0:01:23.640 --> 0:01:27.480 our Tokyo buer chief, say this dispute is different. 0:01:28.360 --> 0:01:30.880 Taiwan is the red line. There's a series of different 0:01:30.920 --> 0:01:33.560 issues between Japan and China. Those are all important, but 0:01:33.760 --> 0:01:36.400 when it revolves around Taiwan, there is no leeway in 0:01:36.440 --> 0:01:39.279 the system for just accepting that maybe someone said something 0:01:39.560 --> 0:01:40.760 and it wasn't a threat. 0:01:40.880 --> 0:01:42.640 That's right. I think what's happened is she said the 0:01:42.720 --> 0:01:45.639 quiet part that aloud, the things that people would normally 0:01:45.640 --> 0:01:49.200 only talk about and plan for behind the scenes. She's 0:01:49.240 --> 0:01:51.200 publicly acknowledged that we have to think about that. 0:01:55.240 --> 0:01:58.760 Welcome to the Big Take Asia from Bloomberg News. I'm Wanha. 0:01:59.280 --> 0:02:01.520 Every week we take you inside some of the world's 0:02:01.520 --> 0:02:05.680 biggest and most powerful economies in the markets, tycoons and 0:02:05.760 --> 0:02:10.200 businesses that drive this ever shifting region. Today on the show, 0:02:10.680 --> 0:02:14.800 China and Japan clash again, but this time the point 0:02:14.800 --> 0:02:18.600 of contention is Taiwan. We find out why Japan's new 0:02:18.639 --> 0:02:22.000 Prime Minister has put Taiwan on the table and what 0:02:22.000 --> 0:02:31.959 it could mean for both sides. Following Takeiichi's comments on Taiwan, 0:02:32.480 --> 0:02:36.920 Beijing has stepped up its protest and retaliation. The Chinese 0:02:36.960 --> 0:02:40.800 government has warned its citizens against traveling to Japan and 0:02:40.840 --> 0:02:44.080 instructed its airlines to reduce the number of flights to 0:02:44.160 --> 0:02:48.760 the country. Beijing's also suspended imports of Japanese seafood and 0:02:48.840 --> 0:02:53.600 halted approvals for movies too. China's Foreign ministry has repeatedly 0:02:53.639 --> 0:02:59.399 demanded Takichi retract her comments on Taiwan. Isabel says Takiichi 0:02:59.480 --> 0:03:02.160 has refused used to do so, saying there was no 0:03:02.440 --> 0:03:05.800 change to Tokyo's stance on how it would respond to 0:03:05.840 --> 0:03:08.120 a major security crisis in the region. 0:03:08.440 --> 0:03:12.440 So what happened was on November seventh, in parliament, Takeichi 0:03:12.480 --> 0:03:16.360 said that a conflict in which Beijing was trying to 0:03:16.400 --> 0:03:19.519 take over Taiwan and was using armed force and was 0:03:19.639 --> 0:03:25.200 using warships could potentially amount to an existential crisis for Japan. 0:03:25.880 --> 0:03:30.320 And now that is significant because under Japan's pacifist constitution 0:03:30.440 --> 0:03:33.679 and the laws it passed subsequently in twenty fifteen, an 0:03:33.720 --> 0:03:38.280 existential crisis would allow Japan potentially to send in its 0:03:38.320 --> 0:03:41.800 own military to the defense of a friendly nation. 0:03:42.160 --> 0:03:44.920 And is that a big shift in Japanese politics for 0:03:44.960 --> 0:03:45.560 her to say that. 0:03:46.160 --> 0:03:49.200 There was a huge amount of discussion leading up to 0:03:49.280 --> 0:03:53.480 the twenty to fifteen legislation. Everyone's been very careful not 0:03:53.640 --> 0:03:58.080 to point out exactly what sort of situation where which 0:03:58.120 --> 0:04:01.440 countries might be involved, were where Japan might send an 0:04:01.440 --> 0:04:05.160 ex military. So to come out and say this very boldly, 0:04:05.920 --> 0:04:08.960 very frankly, and not really mincing her words in any 0:04:08.960 --> 0:04:12.000 way is a big step away from how Japan has 0:04:12.040 --> 0:04:13.320 approached this issue in the past. 0:04:14.200 --> 0:04:17.280 So certainly other Japanese leaders have been known to stay 0:04:17.320 --> 0:04:18.679 away from the issue of Taiwan. 0:04:18.800 --> 0:04:21.680 Yeah, that's absolutely true. They expressed friendliness towards it, but 0:04:21.720 --> 0:04:24.440 they've had this formal set of words that they want 0:04:24.640 --> 0:04:27.560 any conflict between the two sides to be resolved peacefully. 0:04:27.920 --> 0:04:29.960 And I think on that it is important to note 0:04:29.960 --> 0:04:32.760 that people outside the government, or people who used to 0:04:32.839 --> 0:04:36.560 be ministers or MPs like Takh before she became the 0:04:36.600 --> 0:04:40.280 Prime Minister, has said similar things. What's really different here 0:04:40.440 --> 0:04:42.960 is that the Prime Minister, in her official capacity in 0:04:43.000 --> 0:04:45.960 parliament made these comments, and I think part of The 0:04:46.000 --> 0:04:49.480 reaction from China was they were expecting her to do 0:04:49.520 --> 0:04:52.040 something like this. They did know that she had these 0:04:52.120 --> 0:04:54.400 views because she has expressed them in the past, and 0:04:54.440 --> 0:04:58.000 I think for them it was their expectations or their 0:04:58.040 --> 0:05:01.279 fears about what she would do as prime minister were 0:05:01.320 --> 0:05:04.400 confirmed and then they reacted to that. So it really 0:05:04.480 --> 0:05:06.400 is what you can say as a private citizen, what 0:05:06.440 --> 0:05:09.200 you can say as a very minor MP, and what 0:05:09.240 --> 0:05:11.640 you can say as the Prime minister tend to be different. 0:05:11.880 --> 0:05:14.360 And of course we know that Takyishi made history last 0:05:14.360 --> 0:05:16.680 month when she was sworn in as a country's first 0:05:16.680 --> 0:05:19.720 woman prime minister. She's barely unpacked her bags right in 0:05:19.760 --> 0:05:23.640 the PM's office. To your point, why pick this fight now? 0:05:24.160 --> 0:05:26.280 I think there are some doubts about whether she said 0:05:26.279 --> 0:05:28.760 this on purpose. She is very new to the job 0:05:29.000 --> 0:05:31.000 and she's talked about how she only gets two to 0:05:31.080 --> 0:05:33.120 four hours of sleep at night, so I mean, you know, 0:05:33.160 --> 0:05:35.599 maybe she was sleep deprived and felt corded into it. 0:05:35.600 --> 0:05:37.760 And I don't forget this was not something she came 0:05:37.800 --> 0:05:40.040 in and read out as a prepared statement. This was 0:05:40.120 --> 0:05:42.800 part of a long session of being grilled by an 0:05:42.839 --> 0:05:47.520 opposition MP about what exactly would constitute an existential crisis, 0:05:47.560 --> 0:05:49.280 and at the end of it, she came up with this. 0:05:49.960 --> 0:05:51.919 How did her comments land in Japan. 0:05:52.080 --> 0:05:54.599 It's been a very mixed reaction. I mean, we've seen 0:05:54.600 --> 0:05:58.080 a lot of public commentators sort of on both sides saying, 0:05:58.320 --> 0:06:00.359 of course she should not have said that, you should 0:06:00.360 --> 0:06:02.839 have withdrawn it, and the opposition urged her to withdraw 0:06:02.880 --> 0:06:06.800 those comments. But Herst's public support rate is still enormously high. 0:06:06.800 --> 0:06:08.960 It's probably the highest for any prime minister in more 0:06:09.040 --> 0:06:11.680 than two decades. And if you look at the opinion polls, 0:06:11.720 --> 0:06:14.480 they're also a bit mixed, as you would probably expect. 0:06:14.760 --> 0:06:16.479 And I think that's also an interesting point that what 0:06:16.640 --> 0:06:20.000 she's saying isn't unexpected for people in Japan. There has 0:06:20.040 --> 0:06:22.560 been this debate now since twenty fifteen or a decade 0:06:22.720 --> 0:06:26.359 on what would happen if China did try to invade Taiwan. 0:06:26.680 --> 0:06:29.360 Japan is right next door. Obviously Japan is going to 0:06:29.360 --> 0:06:32.159 be affected by that. If nothing else. There are thousands 0:06:32.200 --> 0:06:34.599 of Japanese citizens in Taiwan who would need to be 0:06:35.040 --> 0:06:38.760 helped in some way, assisted out of Taiwan, evacuated, and 0:06:38.839 --> 0:06:42.360 so there's a public recognition that this is a very 0:06:42.360 --> 0:06:45.000 important question and the government will have to do something 0:06:45.240 --> 0:06:47.120 or decide to do something if there is a war 0:06:47.160 --> 0:06:49.160 in the Strait. You know, it's not like this came 0:06:49.160 --> 0:06:51.320 out of nowhere, and Japanese people have never thought about this. 0:06:51.839 --> 0:06:54.240 Now we know the two leaders, President she Jinmping and 0:06:54.320 --> 0:06:56.960 the Prime ministers in Aataki Uchi just shook hands about 0:06:56.960 --> 0:06:59.360 a month ago at the APEX summit in South Korea. 0:07:00.000 --> 0:07:02.679 Are there any warning signs that anyone saw. 0:07:02.520 --> 0:07:04.960 Then that meaning went pretty well? I was there at 0:07:05.000 --> 0:07:07.479 the venue, not having the meeting itself, but everyone I 0:07:07.480 --> 0:07:09.720 spoke to you afterwards, the Japanese side, they seem to 0:07:09.720 --> 0:07:12.200 think the meeting had gone pretty well and there any 0:07:12.200 --> 0:07:16.160 real hiccup or wrinklin That was Takachi sound tweeted that 0:07:16.200 --> 0:07:19.400 she had met the Taiwanese representative to APEX, and the 0:07:19.520 --> 0:07:22.240 Chinese reacted to that quite badly, so they said she 0:07:22.400 --> 0:07:25.640 was flaunting it and hyping it up on Twitter, which 0:07:25.720 --> 0:07:27.640 kind of speaks to how I what I said earlier 0:07:27.720 --> 0:07:31.360 that they were primed for her to do something that 0:07:31.400 --> 0:07:34.160 they see is being provocative, and when she did that, 0:07:34.360 --> 0:07:36.880 I think they were like, we knew it. She's exactly 0:07:36.880 --> 0:07:38.720 what we thought she was going to be, and now 0:07:38.760 --> 0:07:39.880 we have to react. 0:07:40.120 --> 0:07:42.800 And what's interesting, though, is the reaction. Even if they 0:07:42.840 --> 0:07:45.440 were expecting that at some point she would say these things, 0:07:45.800 --> 0:07:49.280 the reaction from Beijing hasn't been your standard diplomatic speak 0:07:49.320 --> 0:07:52.320 at all. Right, it's gotten actually quite hostile and personal, 0:07:52.720 --> 0:07:56.360 including a rather shocking post from China's consule general there 0:07:56.360 --> 0:07:58.600 in Osaka, Isabelle. I wonder if you can tell us 0:07:58.640 --> 0:08:00.880 about that and what the reaction to that was. 0:08:01.480 --> 0:08:04.640 Yeah, So the concert general in Osaka, Shuri Jian. Forgive 0:08:04.760 --> 0:08:06.960 my Chinese, I don't speak at all. So the very 0:08:07.000 --> 0:08:10.720 day after this debate in parliament, he started posting messages 0:08:10.760 --> 0:08:14.200 on x on Twitter saying things about the dirty neck 0:08:14.200 --> 0:08:16.360 that sticks in where it's not wanted, will we sliced 0:08:16.400 --> 0:08:20.440 off with no hesitation. He's known for that kind of rhetoric, 0:08:20.600 --> 0:08:23.200 so it wasn't all that surprising from him, and he 0:08:23.280 --> 0:08:25.679 did delete it, but by that time it had already 0:08:25.840 --> 0:08:29.080 been reported by the Japanese media, and of course there 0:08:29.120 --> 0:08:31.960 was a complete Twitter storm about it, and it seemed 0:08:32.000 --> 0:08:35.720 as though it was only after that the mainline government 0:08:35.720 --> 0:08:38.640 in Beijing started to really weigh in and follow his 0:08:38.800 --> 0:08:41.640 lead as to how they should deal with this issue. 0:08:41.400 --> 0:08:44.360 And what do you think that indicates? Does China then 0:08:44.440 --> 0:08:46.680 take this threat quite seriously? 0:08:47.280 --> 0:08:50.320 Taiwan is the red line when it revolves around Taiwan. 0:08:50.720 --> 0:08:53.080 There is no leeway in the system for just accepting 0:08:53.080 --> 0:08:56.080 that maybe someone said something and it wasn't a threat. 0:08:56.280 --> 0:08:59.400 They have to react the way they think about Taiwan 0:08:59.480 --> 0:09:01.480 that it is and they will get it back, and 0:09:01.520 --> 0:09:04.160 everyone is trying to keep them from getting it. Means 0:09:04.160 --> 0:09:06.080 that they have to react and stamp down on these 0:09:06.120 --> 0:09:09.600 things immediately, Otherwise if they don't, then six months later 0:09:09.600 --> 0:09:11.240 someone else's They think someone else is going to get 0:09:11.280 --> 0:09:14.600 bright ideas about saying something else about Taiwan. And there 0:09:14.600 --> 0:09:17.959 may also be a calculation that Tokayi sign Is knew 0:09:18.520 --> 0:09:21.160 she's weak. She doesn't have a majority in either house 0:09:21.160 --> 0:09:23.960 of parliament. The last couple of prime ministers haven't lasted 0:09:23.960 --> 0:09:26.440 that long. There may be an expectation that she's not 0:09:26.480 --> 0:09:28.280 going to last, and it may will be that kind 0:09:28.280 --> 0:09:32.280 of thinking as driving the Chinese reaction to Tokhan as well, 0:09:32.520 --> 0:09:34.920 that if we push, then she'll be gone and we'll 0:09:34.920 --> 0:09:36.719 have someone less hawkish. 0:09:36.400 --> 0:09:39.040 To deal with that sounds very likely to me as well. 0:09:39.120 --> 0:09:41.040 I mean, whether she actually is weak or not, that 0:09:41.120 --> 0:09:43.200 remains to be seen. Obviously, her position at the moment 0:09:43.200 --> 0:09:45.319 isn't all that strong, but some people say she could 0:09:45.400 --> 0:09:48.360 call an election pretty soon. She's got massive public support, 0:09:48.960 --> 0:09:51.800 and she could even manage to grab back a majority 0:09:51.880 --> 0:09:55.319 for her LDP on its own without any coalition partners 0:09:55.400 --> 0:09:58.080 if her support rate stays how it is. And honestly, 0:09:58.200 --> 0:10:01.280 the things that China's saying, it's hard to say right 0:10:01.400 --> 0:10:04.920 now because the economic effects have not filtered through yet, 0:10:05.400 --> 0:10:07.559 but just that kind of rhetoric I think is much 0:10:07.559 --> 0:10:10.160 more likely to add to support for Takeitu than the 0:10:10.200 --> 0:10:10.800 other way around. 0:10:14.240 --> 0:10:18.160 After the break the historical beefs between China and Japan, 0:10:18.559 --> 0:10:21.640 and how the legacy of World War two underpins the 0:10:21.679 --> 0:10:37.840 current tensions between Beijing and Tokyo, I wonder if we 0:10:37.840 --> 0:10:39.719 can step back a little and James, you kind of 0:10:39.720 --> 0:10:41.920 preface this a little before us, but I wonder if 0:10:41.960 --> 0:10:44.439 we can talk a little bit about the historical beefs 0:10:44.440 --> 0:10:48.040 between the two countries, because that obviously underpins perhaps a 0:10:48.040 --> 0:10:50.480 lot of the reactions on both sides. What are the 0:10:50.520 --> 0:10:53.439 old scabs, the old wounds in this relationship that might 0:10:53.480 --> 0:10:56.079 be now being bloodied right now. 0:10:56.320 --> 0:11:00.280 Obviously, the biggest issue between Johanna and China is left 0:11:00.280 --> 0:11:02.520 over from World War Two. And by World War two, 0:11:02.679 --> 0:11:05.880 I mean not ninety thirty nine to ninety forty five. 0:11:06.320 --> 0:11:08.560 The Chinese definition of World War two, or they're fight 0:11:08.600 --> 0:11:11.079 against the Japanese now is nineteen thirty one to ninety 0:11:11.160 --> 0:11:16.080 forty five. Because Japan was a colonial power. Japan held Korea, 0:11:16.240 --> 0:11:19.720 Japan held Taiwan, Japan took over a large chunk of 0:11:19.720 --> 0:11:22.439 northern China, and then they gradually took more and more, 0:11:22.800 --> 0:11:26.200 and then they've invaded Shanghai and Nanjing and southern China 0:11:26.240 --> 0:11:30.920 in ninety thirty seven. And so that history of being 0:11:30.960 --> 0:11:35.199 invaded by Japan over decades and millions and millions of 0:11:35.280 --> 0:11:37.520 Chinese people being killed by the Japanese or dying because 0:11:37.559 --> 0:11:40.600 of the effects of those wars at that conflict. So 0:11:40.640 --> 0:11:43.880 there's this resentment and hatred because of the events of 0:11:44.040 --> 0:11:46.680 that period to ninety forty five. And then there is 0:11:46.720 --> 0:11:50.200 this belief that Japan is now trying to not take 0:11:50.240 --> 0:11:52.720 back Taiwan as a colony, but it's trying to separate 0:11:52.760 --> 0:11:56.319 Taiwan from its rightful place on the mainland, and also 0:11:56.400 --> 0:11:59.440 this idea that the Japanese government, the Japanese people haven't 0:11:59.440 --> 0:12:03.280 really repented sincerely on their actions during those various conflicts, 0:12:03.440 --> 0:12:05.680 and so all that is bound together. It can be 0:12:05.720 --> 0:12:10.240 incredibly angry, resentful attitude towards Japan. The historical question at 0:12:10.240 --> 0:12:12.200 this story of a match live and it's made much 0:12:12.200 --> 0:12:15.200 worse with the Chinese because of this. Status of Taiwan 0:12:15.400 --> 0:12:16.720 is still very much contested. 0:12:17.880 --> 0:12:21.480 Yeah, and Isabelle I wonder how does Japan see this? 0:12:22.000 --> 0:12:25.280 Even within Japan, this is a hugely divisive issue. I 0:12:25.320 --> 0:12:28.320 think going back to when ties were restored in nineteen 0:12:28.360 --> 0:12:31.920 seventy two, from there on, Japan contributed huge amounts of 0:12:31.960 --> 0:12:35.080 aid and there was lots of technological transfer, and I 0:12:35.120 --> 0:12:37.120 think the feeling behind that for a lot of people 0:12:37.320 --> 0:12:39.280 was we want to try and make up for the 0:12:39.320 --> 0:12:41.760 things that we did wrong in the past. But there's 0:12:41.840 --> 0:12:44.640 also a part of the population who feels like there 0:12:44.679 --> 0:12:47.800 was nothing wrong. We waged a war. All countries wage wars. 0:12:48.040 --> 0:12:51.400 We shouldn't be single alert for criticism just because we lost. 0:12:51.920 --> 0:12:54.600 But I think nowadays, to be honest, people are not 0:12:54.720 --> 0:12:57.440 looking so much at history in Japan. They're just thinking 0:12:57.640 --> 0:13:01.920 we have this giant economic and military might right next 0:13:01.960 --> 0:13:04.000 door to us, How are we going to manage to 0:13:04.040 --> 0:13:07.559 sort of get along with them getting the economic benefits? 0:13:07.640 --> 0:13:11.440 However we can without fooling under their sort of influence 0:13:11.480 --> 0:13:11.920 too far. 0:13:12.320 --> 0:13:14.080 Now it is about this back comes at a time 0:13:14.160 --> 0:13:18.079 when Japan's economy is WOBBLI. We've seen GDP shrink, the 0:13:18.160 --> 0:13:21.880 yen is weak, there's persistent inflation. China issued a travel 0:13:21.880 --> 0:13:25.560 advisory warning its citizens not to travel to Japan. Is 0:13:25.600 --> 0:13:27.600 there a risk there to the Japanese economy? 0:13:28.160 --> 0:13:30.959 To a certain extent, there certainly is. Chinese people make 0:13:31.040 --> 0:13:33.840 up a quarter of visitors to Japan at least so 0:13:33.880 --> 0:13:36.960 far this year, and that's just really started to recover 0:13:37.040 --> 0:13:39.960 in the last year or two from the pandemic period, 0:13:40.080 --> 0:13:43.199 So yes, that could be quite damaging. On the other hand, 0:13:43.240 --> 0:13:45.040 there have been a lot of complaints in Tapan about 0:13:45.040 --> 0:13:48.480 over tourism and about poor manners on the part of 0:13:48.559 --> 0:13:51.880 Chinese tourists in particular, so that might not damage take 0:13:52.400 --> 0:13:53.719 support rates in particular. 0:13:54.000 --> 0:13:56.480 And also tourism is an important source of foreign currency 0:13:56.520 --> 0:13:59.400 revenue for the country, but a slight reduction in tourist 0:13:59.440 --> 0:14:03.280 revenue isn't going to be as damaging as the risk 0:14:03.440 --> 0:14:07.679 or the possibility of Japanese companies in China being targeted 0:14:07.880 --> 0:14:11.280 or seeing boycotts. Japanese car companies still have billions of 0:14:11.320 --> 0:14:14.200 dollars of investments here. Other Japanese companies have billions and 0:14:14.200 --> 0:14:19.920 billions of dollars of investment here, seven to eleven, Uniclo Family, Panasonic, 0:14:20.040 --> 0:14:23.600 Canon Fujitsu. You know, these are huge companies that do 0:14:23.680 --> 0:14:25.760 a lot of revenue here. And if you start to 0:14:25.800 --> 0:14:29.560 see real consumer boycotts, if you start to see businesses 0:14:29.600 --> 0:14:32.720 pulling back from doing business with Japanese companies, then the 0:14:32.880 --> 0:14:37.200 hit to Japan Inc. Could be substantial. While tourism is 0:14:37.320 --> 0:14:40.360 very vivid in your face, the bigger thread is going 0:14:40.400 --> 0:14:41.960 to be if this goes on for a long time 0:14:42.200 --> 0:14:45.360 and Toyota sales in China crater even more than they've 0:14:45.360 --> 0:14:48.440 already been falling. They're already falling because of competition from 0:14:48.520 --> 0:14:52.040 Chinese companies. If those crater, then the effect of that 0:14:52.160 --> 0:14:54.720 is going to be quite big for Japan's economy and 0:14:54.760 --> 0:14:55.560 for those companies. 0:14:55.840 --> 0:14:58.160 James, what's been the public mood in China over this? 0:14:58.640 --> 0:15:01.040 Obviously the press and the government reactions is one thing. 0:15:01.080 --> 0:15:02.640 But I think the thing that sticks out for me 0:15:02.680 --> 0:15:04.840 so far at least, is there hasn't really been a 0:15:04.880 --> 0:15:10.040 public reaction. Japanese restaurants are still full, and unlike previous times. 0:15:10.240 --> 0:15:12.280 I was speaking to someone who's lived here for more 0:15:12.320 --> 0:15:14.000 than twenty years, and they were saying, in two thousand 0:15:14.000 --> 0:15:17.040 and five or in twenty ten, you saw Japanese restaurants 0:15:17.080 --> 0:15:18.840 putting up signs in that windows saying where are in 0:15:18.880 --> 0:15:21.080 by Chinese people? This is a Chinese restaurant. We just 0:15:21.120 --> 0:15:24.000 sell Japanese food, and I haven't seen any sign of 0:15:24.040 --> 0:15:24.760 that yet. 0:15:26.040 --> 0:15:29.920 President Donald Trump has now entered the conversation as well, 0:15:30.160 --> 0:15:34.000 speaking directly with both she and Takeichi. This week, Trump 0:15:34.000 --> 0:15:36.720 and she held the first talk since agreeing to a 0:15:36.760 --> 0:15:39.960 tariff truce, and Trump's readout of the phone call, they 0:15:40.000 --> 0:15:43.400 discussed trade and Russia's war in Ukraine, but he made 0:15:43.640 --> 0:15:48.200 no mention of Taiwan. Meanwhile, China's Foreign Ministry says she 0:15:48.400 --> 0:15:51.600 told Trump on the call that Taiwan's return to China 0:15:51.960 --> 0:15:55.480 is essential a cornerstone of the post World War two 0:15:55.640 --> 0:16:01.320 international order. Hours after that conversation wrapped, spoke with Takeichi. 0:16:01.800 --> 0:16:04.560 She said the US president reached out to reaffirm ties 0:16:04.600 --> 0:16:07.400 with Tokyo and said she could call him any time. 0:16:08.160 --> 0:16:10.800 The back to back calls show the US is tricky 0:16:10.880 --> 0:16:15.040 balancing act managing tensions between a key US ally and 0:16:15.080 --> 0:16:19.480 its biggest rival for most Japanese people, Though Isabelle says 0:16:19.640 --> 0:16:23.120 they'd rather move past this issue altogether, I. 0:16:23.040 --> 0:16:25.960 Think from the japan side, they will just continue making 0:16:25.960 --> 0:16:28.760 these very sort of low key and modest but steady 0:16:28.800 --> 0:16:30.600 efforts to try and smooth things over. 0:16:31.360 --> 0:16:34.760 I do think it matters how well Takaichi San does 0:16:34.840 --> 0:16:38.120 in any election that she calls. There's talk that election 0:16:38.160 --> 0:16:40.600 might happen in January next year, and if that happens, 0:16:40.600 --> 0:16:42.600 as she does win a majority, especially if she wins 0:16:42.600 --> 0:16:44.920 a majority with her own party, that puts her in 0:16:44.920 --> 0:16:47.040 a really good position to be the prime minister for 0:16:47.280 --> 0:16:51.320 three years or more. And so if she can show 0:16:51.360 --> 0:16:54.800 that she has domestic political stability or there is domestic stability, 0:16:54.960 --> 0:16:58.560 she has domestic political strength, and couple that with not 0:16:58.640 --> 0:17:01.680 saying things like this again or being vague when you 0:17:01.720 --> 0:17:05.520 need to be vague, and that continued low key kind 0:17:05.560 --> 0:17:09.480 of work by diplomats. Maybe over time there can be 0:17:09.480 --> 0:17:12.320 an improvement in this, but I think if I don't 0:17:12.359 --> 0:17:17.240 see any prospects of real improvement or change this year. 0:17:20.840 --> 0:17:24.159 This is The Big Take Asia from Bloomberg News. I'm wanha. 0:17:24.680 --> 0:17:27.480 To get more from The Big Take and unlimited access 0:17:27.520 --> 0:17:30.640 to all of Bloomberg dot Com, subscribe today at Bloomberg 0:17:30.680 --> 0:17:33.640 dot com slash podcast Offer. If you liked the episode, 0:17:33.760 --> 0:17:36.200 make sure to subscribe and review The Big Take Asia 0:17:36.320 --> 0:17:39.320 wherever you listen to podcasts. It really helps people find 0:17:39.320 --> 0:17:41.600 the show. Thanks for listening and see you next time.