00:00The head of Japan's Asian and Oceanian Affairs Bureau walks out of a meeting with his Chinese
00:04counterpart in Beijing on Tuesday, looking to de-escalate tensions. The ongoing diplomatic
00:09row began with a strongly worded statement, but now both sides have issued warnings to their
00:14citizens about travel to each other's countries, China delayed the release dates for several
00:18Japanese movies, and airlines have canceled flights, along with tour groups refunding vacation packages.
00:23This recent advisory is based on local news reports regarding current Japan-China relations.
00:31In light of this, the Japanese diplomatic missions in China have once again urged
00:36Japanese nationals residing there to take thorough safety precautions.
00:40These are clear signs that the state of relations between the two sides continues to tailspin
00:45after Japanese Prime Minister Takeichi Sanai said Tokyo might intervene if China attacked Taiwan.
00:51For Taiwan, caught in the middle of the spat, the situation reflects its fraught geopolitical position.
01:08Shares in Japanese tourism and retail companies are already seeing a negative turn,
01:12with some analysts predicting losses of billions of dollars if China's threats on tourism come to full
01:17fruition. Despite a potential economic downturn, it seems most of Japan's
01:21public supports Takeichi and her plan to raise defense spending, though there is less support
01:25for committing to defend Taiwan in the event of a crisis.
01:28Shares-
01:57Other countries, such as the Philippines, the U.S. and South Korea, are surely keeping
02:04an eye on what happens between Tokyo and Beijing.
02:07The U.S. ambassador to Japan even tweeted out a Christmas card thanking China for strengthening
02:11the U.S.-Japan alliance.
02:13Meanwhile, the tit-for-tat between Beijing and Tokyo shows no signs of cooling off.
02:18Ryan Wu and Larry Siano for Taiwan Plus.
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