中国学者认为，如果日本不调整对华政策立场，中国国家主席习近平将不会在11月深圳APEC峰会期间与日本首相高市早苗进行面对面接触[1]。中国学者包承柯指出，日本在对中政策上仍在对抗的道路上推进，形式大于实质，仅是在做"表面功夫"[1]。他表示，中日关系过去8个月一直在走下坡路，现在中国对日政策的主要口径是要遏制日本的"军事再武装"[1]。
南京大学国际关系学院院长朱锋认为，中日关系处在"高度的外交和政治僵局"，根源在于中国无法接受高市早苗在台湾议题上的主张，同时日本还寻求改变战后80年的和平宪法，并可能放弃"无核三原则"[1]。两位学者基于这些分歧预期，若日本不调整立场，习近平将不会与高市早苗进行面对面接触[1]。
Chinese scholars have assessed that President Xi Jinping will not meet face-to-face with Japanese Prime Minister Takashima Sanae during the November APEC summit in Shenzhen unless Japan adjusts its diplomatic stance toward China [1]. The two academics point to a fundamental impasse in bilateral relations, rooted in China's rejection of Tokyo's positions on Taiwan and military rearmament.
Scholar Bao Chengke contends that Japan remains on a confrontational trajectory in its China policy, prioritizing appearances over substance [1]. He notes that Sino-Japanese relations have deteriorated over the past eight months, with China's primary policy objective now centered on restraining Japan's military buildup [1]. Bao characterizes Japanese efforts as mere "surface gestures" rather than meaningful policy reorientation.
Zhu Feng, dean of the School of International Relations at Nanjing University, describes the relationship as caught in a state of "severe diplomatic and political deadlock" [1]. The core obstacles, he explains, include China's fundamental opposition to Takashima's stance on the Taiwan issue, as well as Japan's efforts to revise its postwar peace constitution—in place for eighty years—and potentially abandon its three non-nuclear principles [1]. Both scholars project that absent a Japanese policy adjustment, Xi will refrain from bilateral engagement with the Japanese Prime Minister at the summit [1].