![Chinese President Xi Jinping (left) speaks with US President Donald Trump in the Oval Office of the White House on Sept. 24 (local time). [AP]](https://wimg.heraldcorp.com/news/cms/2026/10/08/news-p.v1.20261008.13cb8a11f9c54d738ec87d0df997cf7f_P1.jpg)
US President Donald Trump urged Chinese President Xi Jinping during last month's summit to engage with Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi to improve China-Japan relations, but Xi rebuffed the overture by warning of the dangers of Japanese militarism, according to reports.
The South China Morning Post cited sources Thursday in reporting that Xi responded in that manner when Trump pressed for dialogue between China and Japan.
According to those sources, Trump told Xi at the bilateral summit held at the White House last month that China's tightening export restrictions on rare earths and other goods destined for Japan posed a threat to US industries that rely on Japanese suppliers. Trump also conveyed Japan's frustration over China's tightening rare earth export controls. He further argued that China's export restrictions violated the US-China trade truce reached following the bilateral summit held in Busan last October.
In response, Xi raised the dangers of Japanese militarism and said China-Japan tensions should be kept separate from US-China relations, sources said. Xi also said the China-Japan dispute should not affect the US-China relationship — a stance widely interpreted as an effective rejection of Trump's call for Beijing to mend ties with Tokyo.
Earlier, Prime Minister Takaichi had met with Trump in New York the day before Xi's state visit to the United States last month. Diplomatic sources said Takaichi had even changed her scheduled speaking slot at the UN General Assembly in order to meet with Trump before the US-China summit. She is believed to have conveyed to Trump the difficulties Japan faced from China's rare earth export restrictions, among other concerns. Trump subsequently played what amounted to a mediating role in pushing for improved China-Japan relations when he met with Xi.
Sources said China also rejected a Japan-proposed bilateral summit between Xi and Takaichi on the sidelines of next month's APEC leaders' meeting. Beijing offered instead to arrange a meeting with Chinese Premier Li Qiang, but Japan insisted the meeting had to be with Xi, not Li. China is believed to have declined to arrange a summit between Takaichi and Xi on that basis.
China-Japan relations deteriorated sharply after Takaichi suggested in November last year that Japan could intervene in a Taiwan contingency. Chinese authorities subsequently imposed a series of informal restrictions — discouraging travel to Japan and banning Japanese films and performances — before effectively introducing rare earth export controls under the guise of restricting exports of dual-use critical minerals.
kate01@heraldcorp.com
