China’s Communist Party is waging a sustained pressure campaign against Japan that is as relentless as it is multifaceted. Through espionage, maritime aggression, and economic coercion, Beijing is testing Tokyo’s resilience and the credibility of its alliance with the United States. The time for incremental responses has passed. Japan and its allies must act decisively.
Chinese intelligence networks have targeted Japan’s most advanced industries, including semiconductors, robotics, and manufacturing. Cyber intrusions and insider recruitment threaten to hollow out Japan’s competitive advantage. Japan should expand counterintelligence resources, tighten oversight of academic exchanges, and establish a joint Japan-U.S.-EU task force to monitor and disrupt technology theft.
Chinese coast guard and fishing vessels regularly enter waters around the Senkaku Islands, attempting to normalize Beijing’s presence. These incursions are not mere provocations; they are designed to erode Japan’s sovereignty. Japan must increase patrols, invest in maritime domain awareness, and coordinate joint exercises with allies to signal that its territorial waters are non-negotiable.
China’s dominant position in rare earth supply chains remains a strategic vulnerability. The 2010 export restrictions served as a warning that future disruptions could threaten Japan’s supply chains for batteries, electronics, and defense systems. Japan should accelerate the diversification of imports, invest in recycling technologies, and launch a multilateral rare earth resilience initiative with Australia, the United States, and India.
The CCP’s tactics are integrated; the response must be equally coordinated. Japan cannot stand alone. Its allies must recognize that defending Japan also means defending the rules-based order. China’s pressure campaign should therefore be treated as a collective security challenge requiring coordinated diplomatic, economic, and military measures.
Japan is facing a sustained campaign designed to weaken its strategic autonomy and test the durability of its alliances. The choice is stark: respond piecemeal and watch sovereignty gradually erode, or act decisively with allies to preserve stability, deter coercion, and defend the rules-based order. The time for hesitation is over.
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Khedroob Thondup
Khedroob Thondup is the son of Gyalo Thondup, elder brother of the Dalai Lama. Educated at St. Stephens College Delhi University and the University of San Francisco. He was a personal assistant to the Dalai Lama and accompanied him on his first trip to the U.S. in 1979. He was sent by the Dalai Lama to Beijing from 1980 till 1993 for dialogue talks where he interacted with Xi Zhongxun and Hu Jintao. He has served as Member of the Tibetan Parliament in Exile for three terms and is the President of the Tibetan Refugee Self Help Centre Darjeeling since 1987. He has edited two books, Dalai Lama My Son and Tibet in Turmoil and presently lives in Taipei, Taiwan.
