On the morning of October 16, 2025, a new incident emblematic of rising tensions in the East China Sea occurred. According to the 11th Regional Coast Guard Headquarters in Naha, at around 10:00 a.m. that day, four China Coast Guard (“Haijing”) vessels in succession entered Japan’s territorial waters around the Senkaku Islands in Okinawa Prefecture.
On October 25, 2025, Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi and U.S. President Donald Trump held their first telephone conversation. As the first official contact between the two leaders following Takaichi’s inauguration, the call strongly impressed upon the international community that the Japan–U.S.