China and Japan are two of Asia’s most powerful nations and the region’s biggest trading partners. Yet centuries of intense rivalry mean their economic embrace can never be taken for granted.

The diplomatic crisis between Tokyo and Beijing is the result of a years-long fundamental shift to the right in Japan - and part of a "long-term struggle" that China must prepare for, according to analysts.

Weeks into the job, Japan’s new leader has come face-to-face with what it means to cross China’s red line on Taiwan.

Sanae Takaichi had said any Chinese military move against Taiwan ‘could allow Japan to exercise its right to collective self-defense’ - Anadolu Ajansı

The opinion poll comes at a time when diplomatic tensions between Tokyo and Beijing have intensified following Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi's recent remarks over Taiwan.

World War Two, and the Japanese invasion of China which preceded it in 1931, remains a source of ongoing tension between Beijing and Tokyo.

Japan’s new Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi threatened to intervene if China invades Taiwan, as large military drills have continued off the Chinese coast and Japan made accusations of intimidation tactics around islands off the coast of both nations.

Trump urges Japan's PM not to provoke China over Taiwan. Tensions rise as Japan refuses to retract remarks about possible military action.

China has repeatedly demanded retraction of the original remarks, failing which it has threatened more countermeasures, after warning citizens against travel to Japan, banning imports of its seafood, and voicing criticism by its diplomats abroad.