Rahm Emanuel criticizes China in speech and social media posts.

On Friday, U.S. Ambassador to Japan Rahm Emanuel renewed criticism of China for its bullying of its neighbors, shared photos of Chinese fishing boats near Japan despite a restriction on such activity, and pointed out that China’s Defense Minister was still absent.

During a speech in Tokyo, he said, “Economic coercion by China is their most persistent and pernicious tool in their toolbox.”

After Japan began leaking treated radioactive water from the damaged Fukushima nuclear power plant into the Pacific Ocean last month, he said, China banned all Japanese seafood.
Before he started speaking, he uploaded four pictures of Chinese fishing boats “fishing for the same fish that China has embargoed” to X (formerly Twitter).

The Chinese foreign ministry responded to Emanuel’s remarks on Fukushima by saying the ambassador should quit supporting Japan’s “irresponsible” behavior.

After China’s defense minister, Li Shangfu, failed to attend a meeting in Vietnam, former Obama chief of staff and former Chicago mayor Rahm Emanuel took to Twitter to investigate Li’s whereabouts. The mayor of Chicago also wanted to know if I was under house arrest.

Reuters reported last week, citing ten sources, that Li, who has not been seen in public for over three weeks, is currently the subject of an investigation by Chinese authorities.

After his address, reporters asked Emanuel whether he had been directed to stop his social media posts. Still, he declined to answer and referred them to yesterday’s comments by White House Indo-Pacific coordinator Kurt Campbell.

Campbell told NBC that Emanuel is a “superstar” and “serving with distinction” as a United States representative.
Emanuel replied, “The bigger picture, which is the more important picture, is that you and I are all standing here, three and a half weeks later, and you can’t tell me where the defense minister is.”