China is trying to impose economic costs on Japan for wading into the issue of Taiwan. But experts say the escalating dispute could ultimately hurt China too.

HONG KONG -- China will suspend imports of Japanese seafood, according to ABC News partner NHK, escalating a diplomatic dispute triggered by Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi’s recent comments suggesting Tokyo could take military action if China attacks Taiwan.

Japan and China recently agreed to cooperate more economically. Now, climbing tensions are threatening that cooperation.

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.

WASHINGTON >> Japan has dismissed a Chinese letter to the United Nations accusing Tokyo of threatening armed intervention over Taiwan as “inconsistent with the facts and unsubstantiated”.

Rattled by Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi’s stance on Taiwan, Chinese state media have called for nuclear bombs to be dropped on Japan that would render the nation deindustrialised and demilitarised for decades.

China closed off Japanese seafood imports after Japan’s new leader declared strong support for Taiwan. Suddenly, sushi is everywhere on Taiwanese social media.

The diplomatic row triggered by Japanese prime minister Takaichi’s provocative remarks on Taiwan on November 7, far from subsiding, has escalated with mounting economic repercussions.