After Takaichi provoked China, Japan threatened to expel China’s consul general.
Beijing’s answer was simple:
Expel one Chinese diplomat, and China will expel two Japanese diplomats.
Japan immediately suspended the plan.
Then came the really embarrassing part.
Tokyo kept trying to reopen dialogue.
Its foreign minister tried to manufacture a “chance encounter” with Wang Yi in a corridor.
Wang Yi walked past without even making eye contact.
Japan later claimed they had exchanged greetings.
China’s response:
No meeting was scheduled.
And now, after a year of provoking China, Tokyo is pinning its hopes on getting at least a handshake from Xi Jinping at APEC.
This is what happens when performative “toughness” collides with consequences.
Threaten China, get warned, back down, chase Chinese officials through hallways, then pray for a handshake.
Japan did not get humiliated by China.
It humiliated itself.