Former Japanese Ambassador Gives accounts of Japan-China Diplomatic Tensions

An interview with former Japanese diplomat Hideo Tarumi has given insights into Tokoyo’s diplomacy with Beijing. Mr. Tarumi—Japan’s ambassador to China from November 2020 to December 2023—spoke with Japanese media, Sankei Shimbun, on Feb. 18. He told the publication about the diplomatic games between Japan and China, including Beijing’s wolf warrior diplomacy and appeasement by the Japanese government led by Naoto Kan, who was prime minister from 2010 to 2011. Mr. Tarumi spoke of an incident that occurred in 2010 when he was director of the China-Mongolia Division at the Japanese Ministry of Foreign Affairs. On Sept. 27 of that year, a Chinese fishing vessel entered Japanese waters around the contested Senkaku Islands and rammed into Japanese Coast Guard vessels....