中日因台灣問題而升溫的外交緊張，到底發生了什麼？
本集用清楚、好懂、口語英文帶你認識整起事件的背景、歷史與最新進展。
適合初中級～中級英文學習者，一邊聽英文、一邊討論國際新聞。 🌏✨

Rising tensions between China and Japan over Taiwan — what exactly happened?
In this episode, I’ll guide you through the background, history, and latest developments in clear, simple, and conversational English.
Perfect for low-intermediate to intermediate English learners who want to practice listening while understanding global news. 
https://open.firstory.me/user/cmilgpemw00i201yvfrduavyf/comments


Transcript:
“China & Japan: What’s Going On?”
Hey guys, I’m your English teacher, Miss Y! Welcome to the podcast made for intermediate English learners who want to listen to English, and learn about different topics in a fun and easy way. So grab your headphones, make yourself comfortable, and let’s dive in!

Today we’re diving into a topic that’s been all over the news recently. It’s about China, Japan, and their rising tension over Taiwan. Now, I know political topics can feel a bit heavy, but don’t worry — I’m going to explain it like we’re just chatting over coffee.
Simple English, clear ideas. So let’s take a deep breath… and let’s jump in.

What’s Actually Happening? So here’s the situation in a nutshell: Recently, China and Japan got into a really heated argument. Not a small disagreement — a serious diplomatic fight. diplomatic, 外交的. So the two countries is having a diplomatic fight. Everything started when Japan’s prime minister, Sanae Takaichi, made a statement. Sanae Takaichi, 就是高市早苗. She is the prime minister, 首相. The Japanese prime minister made a statement. She said that if China attacked Taiwan, Japan might use its self-defense forces to respond. self-defense 自我防衛，forces就是軍隊，或是軍備。日本自衛隊的翻譯就是self-defense forces。If China attacked Taiwan, Japan might use its self-defense forces to respond to that situation. Her attitude is aligned with Japan’s former Prime Minister, Abe Shinzo, 安倍晉三, who said that: “A Taiwan contingency is a Japan contingency.” Contingency is something that might possibly happen in the future, usually causing problems. Contingency就是未來可能出現的危急情況. Anyways, Takaichi’s comment upset China. Like… really upset them. A Chinese diplomat，diplomat就是外交官。 A Chinese diplomat then posted something online that many people thought sounded like a threat，聽起來像一個威脅，threat。 It sounded like a threat toward the Japanese prime minister — something very harsh.
One thing led to another. 事情一件接著一件發生。 This whole situation got emotional, political, and complicated very quickly.

Let’s Walk Through the Timeline. On November 7 -- The spark. During a meeting in Japan’s parliament, someone asked the prime minister: “What situation around Taiwan would be considered dangerous enough for Japan to act?” And she answered something like: “Well, if there are wars or military force, that could threaten Japan.”
Now, in Japanese law, there is a term called a “survival-threatening situation.” survival就是跟生存有關的，threatening，威脅。 survival-threatening situation 攸關存亡的威脅。 This means Japan can take action if an attack on an ally also puts Japan at risk. ally 就是盟友，for example, the US is an ally of Japan, so is Taiwan now. put someone at risk, 就是使某人處在危險之中。So if there is an attack on an ally, and it also puts Japan at risk, then they can do something to defend. So what the prime minister said basically suggested that a war involving Taiwan might activate Japan’s military. China did not like that. They called her comment “extremely wrong.” The next day — things explode. A Chinese diplomat in Osaka reposted a news article about her comment... and then added a very angry statement, something like: “A dirty head that sticks itself in must be cut off.” Cut off? Can you imagine? Pretty shocking, right? People immediately reacted.
Japan protested China protested back. The post was deleted afterwards, but the anger stayed. The situation spreads. Then we saw travel warnings, Chinese airlines offering refunds, Japanese movies delayed in China, politicians making stronger statements every day. This wasn’t just an online fight anymore — it became a full diplomatic crisis. crisis，一個危機，危險的情況。This seemed to become a big diplomatic crisis.

Why Is This Such a Sensitive Topic? To really understand this argument, we need to talk about two background issues: Historical tension between China and Japan, tension 就是緊繃，緊張的情況。These two countries have a long, painful history:
During world war II, Japan’s military actions caused millions of deaths in China. There has been decades of mistrust. Even though today’s generations weren’t alive back then, the emotions are still there in Chinese people’s mind. Sometimes, one political comment can bring back all those old wounds. 傷口 wound. It brings back the old wounds. Second, Taiwan’s political status. Taiwan governs itself. But China says Taiwan is part of China. Japan and the US don’t officially say Taiwan is a country… They don’t. But they also kind of support Taiwan’s democracy and safety. democracy 就是民主. These countries do supports Taiwan’s democracy. This creates a situation called “strategic ambiguity.” strategic 戰略性的, ambiguity, 模糊. So strategic ambiguity means like they say: “We’re not telling you exactly what we will do. And that uncertainty is part of our strategy.” This has worked for decades. Everyone avoids saying too much. But Takaichi’s comment? It was more direct than usual. And China felt that Japan was stepping too close to the topic.

Why Did Japan’s Comment Make China So Angry? There are a few reasons. Reason 1, it challenges China’s “one-China” principle China says Taiwan is part of its territory. territory, 領地. They think Taiwan is their territory. So when another country suggests it might protect Taiwan, China sees that as interfering. interfere就是干預, 干擾. China thinks this action is interfering their domestic issue. The second reason, Japan’s growing defense plans, defense 就是防衛;國防. Japan has been increasing military spending. The prime minister is known for being strong on defense. She’s very supportive of Taiwan. To China, this looks like Japan is getting more involved in an issue China considers its “core interest.” 核心利益, core interest. Taiwan’s issue is China’s core interest. The third reason, fear of foreign alliances, 同盟. China worries that Japan + the US + Taiwan might team up if something happens. So any public comment from Japan about “defending Taiwan” makes Beijing extremely nervous.

Why Japan Cares About Taiwan? This is important. Japan isn’t only thinking about politics — it’s also thinking about safety. Taiwan is very close to Japan. If something happens there, Japan could be affected militarily, economically, geographically Also, a major part of the world’s technology — especially computer chips, now “chips” here doesn’t meant potatoes chips, chip 也是晶片的意思 — some of the most high tech chips come from Taiwan. Therefore, stability is important for Japan’s economy as well. stability 就是穩定。Stability is what Japan wants.

How the Two Countries Responded? Here’s what each side did. Japan’s reaction: They defended the prime minister’s comment. They protested the Chinese diplomat’s harsh post. They told China to take action about the online threat. They emphasized: “We want peace in the Taiwan Strait.” Taiwan Strait 就是台灣海峽. China’s reaction: They demanded that Japan take back the comment. They summoned the Japanese ambassador in China，summon 召喚或傳喚 , ambassador 外交官。China summoning Japanese ambassador means China officially called Japan’s ambassador into the Chinese foreign ministry to give a strong warning or complaint. It’s a serious diplomatic action, like saying: “Come here, come here. We need to talk — now.” They warned Japan to “stop playing with fire”. They told Chinese citizens to avoid traveling to Japan and allowed airlines to offer refunds. And they even suspended some Japanese movie releases. suspend, 暫停。China paused or delayed the release of certain Japanese movies in China. In short: Both sides pushed back hard. This argument is not only about one sentence from Japan. It’s about old historical mistrust, modern-day security in Asia, Taiwan’s political future, US influence in the region, rising nationalism in both countries And when emotions, history, and politics mix… things can escalate fast.

What Could Happen Next? Most experts believe that neither side actually wants a real conflict. But both want to show strength. So what will likely happen? There will be more strong statements, more diplomatic tension, maybe more warnings or travel advice, and eventually… the situation will probably calm down again. But the deeper issues — history, Taiwan, security — won’t disappear. So this probably won’t be the last time Japan and China clash over this topic.

What Can We Learn from This? Here are a question for you to think about after learning this news. How do you think the tension might affect everyday people in Japan or China? I personally think Chinese citizens are the scapegoat of this situation, as always. Here, Scapegoat refers to a person who is blamed for something that has gone wrong, but they haven’t done anything wrong. 就是一個代罪羔羊的意思. Chinese people have become to be the scapegoat, they are the sacrifice to punish Japan in order to save their government’s face. So, what do you think? How can this situation affect people from both countries, or even affect people from Taiwan?

Alright, that’s it for today’s episode. Thanks so much for hanging out with me today!
This was a big topic, but I hope the way we broke it down made it clear and easy to follow.

I’m Miss Y, and I hope you enjoyed learning English with me.
If you liked this episode, come back next time for another fun 15 to 20 minutes of simple, clear English and a brand-new topic to explore.
Stay curious, Learn the World in simple English with Miss Y, I’ll talk to you again soon, 下次見囉！