More than two weeks into an escalating row between China and Japan following Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi’s remarks that Tokyo could intervene militarily in a crisis over Taiwan, the two sides remain at loggerheads — with no signs of the dispute coming to an end any time soon.
The cavernous divide was on full display over the weekend, with some observers saying the row now threatened to eclipse tensions that erupted in 2010, when the countries clashed over the Japanese-administered Senkaku Islands, which are also claimed by China.
At a Group of 20 summit in Johannesburg, the closest Takaichi and Chinese Premier Li Qiang came to each other was when they were situated on opposite sides of three other leaders during the summit’s group photo.
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