Tokyo’s registry tweak is a masterclass in bureaucratic tiptoeing—acknowledging reality without rattling cages too loudly. Of course Beijing’s pantomime outrage follows: sovereignty theatrics are their bread and butter, even as their “inalienable” claims hinge on threats of invasion.

Taiwanese identity isn’t some diplomatic asterisk to be erased by ink. Japan knows this, hence the slow pivot from hollow Cold War-era platitudes to pragmatic record-keeping. Chip factories buy more goodwill than ideological posturing ever could.

Democracies love these Schrödinger’s policies—officially denying statehood while functionally treating Taiwan as sovereign. It’s the diplomatic equivalent of covering your ears and yelling “LA LA LA” when facts clash with lobbyist-drafted communiqués.