While China and the United States revisited their World War II legacy and talked about the Taiwan question in the latest heads-of-state phone conversation, Japan — both a defeated country and a perpetrator state in the war — took more actions on Tuesday to defend Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi's recent provocative comments on Taiwan.

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.

Japan on Tuesday rebuffed China's claim that it can take military action against nations defeated in World War II based on the U.N.

China stepped up its economic war with Japan on Wednesday as a dispute between Asia’s two biggest economies intensified over a remark by Tokyo's new leader about a Japanese response to any Chinese military move against self-ruled Taiwan.

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.