Taiwanese Premier Cho Jung-tai visited Japan in a private capacity to attend a World Baseball Classic game in Tokyo between Taiwan's national team and that of the Czech Republic on March 7. In response, Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson Guo Jiakun on March 9 called the visit "sneaky" and "provocative," and he asserted that Japan's involvement would "inevitably come at a cost."

Cho's visit to Japan marks the first by a sitting premier since Japan severed diplomatic relations with Taiwan in 1972. China and Japan have been in an escalating diplomatic dispute since Takaichi asserted on Nov. 7, 2025, that Japan could engage militarily with China if the latter invaded Taiwan.