With Japan, China faces a corrosive security dilemma

Japan has released its 610-page 2026 defence white paper, cementing a strategic shift that labels China as an unprecedented and the greatest strategic challenge for the fourth consecutive year. This framing originates from 2014, when a Japanese white paper first flagged Beijing's East China Sea Air Defence Identification Zone.

In the context of bilateral relations, this enduring characterization by Tokyo has created a corrosive security dilemma for Beijing, highlighting deep-seated regional tensions and mutual strategic distrust between the two East Asian powers.