China Drops Honorific for Japan's Takaichi, Calling Her by Name Only

Uses Only Her Name in Public

Diplomatic Language Turns Colder

China's Foreign Ministry has sparked controversy by referring to Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi only by name, without her title, at an official press briefing. It was the first known time since Takaichi took office that the ministry omitted her title. The move suggests Beijing's discomfort with the Takaichi administration is now spilling into diplomatic language as tensions over Taiwan drag on.

Guo Jiakun, a deputy spokesperson for China's Foreign Ministry, referred to the Japanese leader as "Sanae Takaichi" at a Sept. 30 briefing when asked about remarks by Japanese Defense Minister Shinjiro Koizumi on possessing nuclear weapons and nuclear-powered submarines. He did not use the titles "Japanese prime minister" or "Prime Minister Takaichi," which had been used previously.

Shangguan News, a Chinese Communist Party-affiliated outlet, reported that it was the first time China's Foreign Ministry had publicly dropped Takaichi's title and referred to her directly by name. Hong Kong's Sing Tao Daily said the ministry is highly deliberate in its wording, making it hard to dismiss the phrasing as a simple slip.

The wording also stands out against past precedent. Even when former Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi clashed sharply with China by visiting Yasukuni Shrine for six consecutive years from 2001 to 2006, China's Foreign Ministry continued to refer to him as "Japanese prime minister" or "Prime Minister Koizumi."

At the same briefing, the Chinese side referred to Defense Minister Koizumi as "the current official in charge of defense affairs." The phrasing sidestepped his formal title, but Beijing still avoided calling him only by name. That contrast has fueled views that the wording used for Takaichi was an intentional diplomatic message.

China-Japan tensions intensified after Takaichi's comments on Taiwan in November 2025. In parliament, she said a contingency involving Taiwan could fall under a category defined in Japan's security legislation as a "survival-threatening situation." The remark was interpreted as meaning Japan's Self-Defense Forces could use force depending on the circumstances, prompting a strong backlash from China.

Since then, high-level dialogue and exchanges between the two governments have effectively been suspended. Even as it pressures the Takaichi administration, China has continued contacts with other political and business groups in Japan in what is described as a strategy of selective engagement.

When former Japanese Foreign Minister Takeshi Iwaya visited China in late September, he separately held talks with Wang Yi, a member of the Chinese Communist Party Politburo and China's foreign minister, and Vice Premier He Lifeng. The meetings were seen as a sign that Beijing wants to keep ties with other political and economic forces in Japan while maintaining distance from the Takaichi government.

With Beijing now altering even its diplomatic forms of address, a near-term easing of tensions with the Takaichi administration appears unlikely. The gap between the two sides over Taiwan and Japan's security policy remains wide, raising the risk that the chill in China-Japan relations will persist.

Choi Man-su, Tokyo correspondent, Korea Economic Daily bebop@hankyung.com