China Protests Japanese Military Presence and South China Sea Stance

The Government of China launched a series of diplomatic protests against Japan between July 12 and July 14, 2026, following Tokyo's commemoration of the 10th anniversary of the South China Sea Arbitration Award. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the People's Republic of China summoned the chief minister of the Japanese Embassy in Beijing, while the Chinese Embassy in Tokyo delivered a formal demarche to Japanese Foreign Ministry official Kanai Masaaki. Beijing characterized the 2016 Hague tribunal ruling as illegal and null, accusing Japanese Foreign Minister Toshimitsu Motegi of political manipulation and hypocrisy.

Simultaneously, China condemned Japan's expanding military role in the region. Wu Shicun, president of the National Institute for South China Sea Studies, warned that Japan's military presence carries a destructive potential surpassing that of the United States. He specifically cited Japan's participation in the Balikatan exercises with the U.S. and Philippines, which included the deployment of 1,400 personnel and the first overseas live firing of a Type 88 surface-to-ship missile since World War II.

These tensions coincide with the release of a classified military document indicating that the People's Liberation Army began preparing for potential armed conflict with Japan as early as 2014. Lieutenant General Zheng Weiping had urged the military to prioritize countering U.S.-Japanese intervention in the Taiwan Strait following Tokyo's decision to partially exercise its right to collective self-defense. China maintains that Japan's current posture exceeds the scope of self-defense and undermines regional stability.