Beijing’s decision to initiate a leadership-level call with Washington on the evening of November 24, marks an exceptional departure from precedent. It was the first occasion on which Xi Jinping has personally requested contact with a US president; historically, such engagements have, with rare exceptions, been arranged at the instigation of the American side says political commentor Arnaud Bertrand.

However, the call was notable not only for its provenance but also for its content. According to a release by the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Beijing, the main subjects were Taiwan and Japan.

On Taiwan, the MOFA said “President Xi outlined China’s principled position on the Taiwan question. He underscored that Taiwan’s return to China is an integral part of the post-war international order. China and the U.S. fought shoulder to shoulder against fascism and militarism. Given what is going on, it is even more important for us to jointly safeguard the victory of WWII.”

In response, Trump mentioned their recent meeting in Busan, South Korea and that “The two sides are implementing all elements of what we agreed to in Busan.” The US president went on to add that “China was a big part of the victory of WWII” before saying “The US understands how important the Taiwan question is to China” albeit offering no reported opinion on China’s efforts to secure US support on its claims over the self-governing island.

Such communiqués are, as Bertand pointed out, drafted in highly codified language, and the transcript deployed a formulation never previously used in the Sino-American context; Beijing saying the two countries should together “maintain the fruits of the Second World War victory” in the struggle against “fascism and militarism” - a phrasing Bertrand sees as plainly directed at Tokyo, given the present geopolitical climate following comments on the China-Taiwan issue by Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi.

According Bertrand, equally striking was a reference to Taiwan with Xi supposedly saying to Trump that “Taiwan’s return to China is an important component of the post-war international order”, a construction that echoes Sino-Russian discourse and recasts the island’s status through a Japan-focused historical lens. The implication is that China and the United States, as co-victors in 1945, share responsibility for upholding the post-war settlement, including the reversal of Japan’s earlier 1895 – 1945 rule over Taiwan.

That the Chinese president for life has taken the step of calling Trump to remind him of this though indicates a degree of desperation on the part of Xi. Following Takaichi’s reference to Chinese action against Taiwan being interpreted in Tokyo as an indication that Japan’s survival was under threat, both Japan and Taiwan have endured more than a week of online abuse from Chinese officials and – more than likely – government-backed online bots. Attacking any pro-Japan or pro-Taiwan government and social media accounts, using English, Japanese and Mandarin as spoken in Taiwan, the attacks have reached a level never before seen in Sino-Japanese relations.

While this suggests significant official backing, the very fact that Takaichi has not backed down and as of November 25, shows no sign of retracting her comments despite daily demands to so so from Beijing, it also shows that China’s bark is coming off as significantly worse than its bite.

Geopolitical spats in recent years with Australia, India, Vietnam, the Philippines and others around the South China Sea - frequently with Taiwan too - have all fizzled out after efforts at face-saving appeasement by those involved. That Japan’s Takaichi – a known fan of Britain’s Iron Lady of the late 70s, 80s, and early 90s, Margaret Thatcher – has refused to bend, break or back down under a barrage of Chinese abuse speaks volumes.

Beijing’s bluff has been called – and Xi’s response was to call Donald Trump.