China has postponed the release of at least two Japanese films as political tensions between Beijing and Tokyo intensify over Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi’s recent comments on Taiwan the BBC reports.

State broadcaster CCTV reported that Cells at Work! and Crayon Shin-chan the Movie: Super Hot! The Spicy Kasukabe Dancers have been withdrawn from upcoming cinema schedules, with distributors said to have reassessed market conditions and public sentiment towards Japanese cultural exports.

Both films had been expected to reach Chinese audiences in the coming weeks. Crayon Shin-chan is a particularly popular character in East Asia – a naughty little boy in many ways similar to Bart Simpson in the West.

The decision comes amid a sharp deterioration in bilateral relations following remarks by Takaichi, a long-standing critic of Beijing, who earlier this month told the Japanese parliament that Tokyo would need to consider military options were China to launch an attack on Taiwan.

Her comments prompted an immediate backlash from Beijing, which urged Chinese citizens to avoid travelling to Japan and advised students to reconsider plans to study there, citing unspecified safety concerns.

While tickets remain on sale in China for Demon Slayer: Infinity Castle – itself a major Japanese animation that opened to strong box office numbers earlier this month - CCTV said demand had weakened as the political dispute escalated. According to the BBC, the broadcaster also claimed the film had attracted “strong dissatisfaction” from sections of the Chinese audience, although it did not elaborate.

Neither Chinese authorities nor the films’ distributors have indicated when the releases may be rescheduled.

The diplomatic spat has already spilled into financial markets, with Japanese tourism, airline and retail stocks falling sharply as investors assessed the potential damage from a drop in visitor numbers from China. Nearly 7.5mn Chinese travellers visited Japan in the first nine months of the year, making China one of Japan’s most important sources of inbound tourism. There are, however, signs that some in Japan are seeing it as a blessing in disguise with Chinese group tourism known to irritate locals and other tourists by block-booking restaurants and overcrowding many tourist sites.

Behind the spat is Beijing’s regard of Taiwan as a province that must eventually return to Chinese rule, by force if necessary. Most Taiwanese see themselves as part of a separate political entity, yet prefer to maintain the current ambiguity over formal independence or unification.