![Chinese President Xi Jinping and Japanese Prime Minister Takaichi Sanae shake hands before the China-Japan summit held in Gyeongju on October 31 last year. [Photo = Yonhap News]](https://newstoday.charm-retirement.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/11/news-p.v1.20261109.8aa9f115ece341549d2c5660c725c388_P1.png)
Seating arrangements, concerns of alienating people during photoshoots
“Promise equal treatment with other heads of state”
Xi, 加’s prime minister, Trudeau, has a history of public censure
![Chinese President Xi Jinping and Japanese Prime Minister Takaichi Sanae shake hands before the China-Japan summit held in Gyeongju on October 31 last year. [Photo = Yonhap News]](https://wimg.mk.co.kr/news/cms/202611/09/news-p.v1.20261109.8aa9f115ece341549d2c5660c725c388_P1.png)
Japanese government officials are reportedly making all-out efforts to prevent Chinese President Xi Jinping from bringing a diplomatic disgrace to Japanese Prime Minister Takaichi Sanae at the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit to be held in Shenzhen, China from the 18th to the 19th.
According to Bloomberg on the 9th (local time), Japanese government officials asked China for a commitment that Xi would treat Prime Minister Takaichi equally with the leaders of other countries at the APEC meeting.
The officials, who asked not to be named, said the Japanese government will protest if an unusual protocol is planned at the meeting.
Experts predict that the Chinese government could alienate Prime Minister Takaichi from seating arrangements or group photoshoots of leaders. This is because President Xi has a history of openly reprimanding Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau at the 2022 G20 summit.
![Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau talks with Chinese President Xi Jinping during a banquet at the G20 summit in Bali, Indonesia, November 16, 2022. [Photo - Canadian Prime Minister's Office]](https://wimg.mk.co.kr/news/cms/202611/09/news-p.v1.20261109.36db451c76b74e6db045c2cc79569c86_P1.png)
“For the past year, the Chinese government has focused its verbal attacks targeting Japan on Prime Minister Takaichi, many of whom have focused on demonizing Prime Minister Takaichi at an unusual level,” said Jeremy Chan, a senior analyst at Eurasia Group, a former U.S. diplomat. “This increases the possibility that China will find an opportunity to disgrace Prime Minister Takaichi personally by lowering his protocol status or criticizing Japan at the APEC summit.”
China and Japan have been sharply divided since Prime Minister Takaichi said in November last year that China’s attack on Taiwan could threaten Japan’s existence.
Citing some Japanese government officials, Bloomberg analyzed that Prime Minister Takaichi’s visit to China is particularly sensitive, saying that President Xi appears to have directly asked Prime Minister Takaichi to withdraw his remarks on Taiwan.
#
