China’s diplomatic full-court press against Japan over its support for Taiwan has targeted President Donald Trump, the United Nations and, now, two of Tokyo’s closest European partners.

In separate talks with senior British and French officials last week, Beijing’s top diplomat, Wang Yi, alluded to their nations’ victories over Imperial Japan during World War II, urging them to side with China again in its deepening rift with Tokyo.

His remarks were China’s latest bid to rally support in a dispute that has raged for weeks, since Japan’s new Prime Minister, Sanae Takaichi, suggested that her country could intervene militarily if China were to attack Taiwan.

Takaichi told Japan’s Parliament on November 7 that any attempt by China to blockade or seize Taiwan could constitute a “survival-threatening situation” for Japan, implying a potential military response. Her comments reflected a long-held Japanese policy, but one that has rarely been verbalised.

Beijing, which asserts that self-governed Taiwan is part of Chinese territory, has responded furiously. It accused Takaichi of crossing a “red line” and demanded a retraction. It has urged millions of Chinese tourists to avoid Japan, cancelled hundreds of flights and banned imports of Japanese seafood. Even Japanese entertainers have seen their performances in China abruptly cancelled — one of them, in Shanghai last week, in the middle of a song.

During Wang’s meeting with Jonathan Powell, Britain’s foreign security adviser, in Beijing on Thursday and his call on Friday with Emmanuel Bonne, the French presidential foreign policy adviser, he called on both European countries to continue to abide by the one-China principle.

In doing so, Wang sidestepped the more nuanced position that Britain and France maintain on China and Taiwan. Both nations recognise Beijing diplomatically, not Taipei, but they also support the status quo and oppose any effort by China to use force in the Taiwan Strait or threaten to do so.

As Xi did with Trump, Wang tried to appeal to their nations’ shared history fighting Japan, calling on them to “safeguard the outcomes” of World War II.

Beijing has been frustrated by what it sees as continued European support of Taiwan, said Noah Barkin, an expert on European-Chinese relations at Rhodium Group, a research firm.