Japan Slams WSJ Trump Story as US ‘East-Up’ Map Shifts China’s Battlespace
Japan has strongly denied a Wall Street Journal report quoting US President Donald Trump as telling Japanese PM Takaichi Sanae to “lower the volume” about Taiwan. The disputed report comes amid an ongoing deluge of bellicose comments and threatening actions by Beijing towards Tokyo. This wild overreaction follows Takaichi’s measured remarks that an attempted invasion of Taiwan by People’s Liberation Army (PLA) forces could provoke a military response from Japan’s Self-Defense Forces. Among the targets of China’s recent criticism is Japan’s positioning of purely defensive missiles on Yonaguni Island, near Taiwan. Meanwhile, US General Xavier Brunson, commander of US, UN and combined US-ROK forces, has presented an “east-up” map that helps to visualize the central geographic position of Seoul between Tokyo, Taipei and Beijing. Brunson also described a “strategic triangle” of Japan, South Korea and the Philippines. How should the world react to Beijing’s disproportional reaction? And are the Korean Peninsula, East China Sea and South China Sea part of the same military theater? In this episode, we discuss the ongoing Beijing-Tokyo tensions, Japan’s defensive posture and US military strategy in East Asia. *Recorded on November 28, 2025 at 10:45am Taiwan Standard Time Host/Senior Producer: Yin Khvat Our guests: Choo Jaewoo - Kyung Hee University Department of Chinese Studies Professor Tony Hu - Former US Department of Defense Senior Director for China, Taiwan and Mongolia Lai I-chung - Prospect Foundation President
