Facing reprisals from Beijing for a remark over Taiwan, Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi must walk a fine line to prevent escalating the dispute without looking weak at home.

As China reportedly mulls a ban on Japanese seafood amid a standoff between the Asian neighbors, Taiwan's leader shows support for Tokyo, with his lunch.

Beijing suggested it might reimpose a ban on seafood imports from Japan after warning its citizens to avoid travel there and postponing the releases of at least two Japanese movies.

China escalated its retaliation against Japan, suspending imports of Japanese seafood and halting approvals for new films — the latest signs that their diplomatic spat is far from over.

Chinese diplomats airing hawkish views, or "wolf warriors" as they are known, have returned to the global stage, drumming up criticism of Japan's prime minister in countries that suffered from its military actions during World War Two.

Japan's top government spokesman criticized China on Friday after it decided to postpone a trilateral culture ministers' meeting also

Japanese prime minister Sanae Takaichi has infuriated China with her recent remarks, with no clear means of resolution.

An off-the-cuff remark by new Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi that triggered Japan's biggest bust-up in years with powerful neighbour China was not meant to signal a new hardline stance. But after openly stating how Japan might react to a hypothetical Chinese attack on Taiwan,