China warns citizens not to travel to Japan amid rising tensions
An escalating diplomatic row over Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi's recent remarks on Taiwan has led the Chinese Embassy in Japan to issue a new travel warning, citing a deteriorating security environment in Japan.
In the second alert, issued on Wednesday night, following one on Nov. 14, the embassy urged Chinese citizens already in Japan to enhance their safety awareness and protect themselves, referring to "many recent reports" from expatriates that they have been "verbally abused, beaten and injured" without provocation, News.Az reports citing Kyodo news.
The Japanese Foreign Ministry disclosed crime data last Friday to refute the Chinese contention.
Japanese authorities revealed there had been seven murders and 21 robberies in Japan involving Chinese nationals between January and October this year, as compared to 14 murders, 18 robberies and three arson cases affecting Chinese during the same period last year, it said.
The figures include cases in which the perpetrators were Chinese.
Without presenting specific data, the Chinese embassy said the number of requests for assistance made by the country's citizens regarding discrimination against them in Japan has "increased significantly, especially in November."
The embassy also highlighted statistics compiled by Japan's National Police Agency that showed the number of criminal cases in the country increased from about 568,000 in 2021 to around 738,000 in 2024.
On Wednesday, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Mao Ning urged Tokyo to ensure the safety of Chinese nationals in Japan, saying "a lot of extreme and threatening rhetoric against China can be found on the internet."
She also said the Chinese Embassy and consulates have been recently "repeatedly harassed, both online and offline, by right-wing provocateurs."
Shunsuke Tanabe, a professor of political sociology at Waseda University, said online rhetoric does not immediately lead to the worsening of the security environment in Japan. He urged Japanese politicians to "send a strong message" that the country does not tolerate exclusionism.
Following the issuance of the second travel warning, some Chinese social media users called on compatriots to avoid traveling to Japan "so as not to cause trouble" to their country.
In addition to the travel alert, China on Nov. 16 urged its citizens to carefully reconsider studying in Japan, citing safety risks.
A Beijing agent offering services to Chinese people who plan to study abroad said there has been an increasing number of inquiries from people worried about studying in Japan.
The bilateral row stems from Takaichi's Nov. 7 parliamentary remarks that suggested a Chinese attack on Taiwan, the self-ruled democratic island claimed by Beijing, could trigger a response involving Japan's defense forces.
Meanwhile, major Japanese retailer Aeon Co. on Thursday opened a large-scale shopping mall in Changsha, the capital of China's Hunan Province, with many local shoppers flocking to the facility despite Sino-Japanese tensions.
Some social media users have said they will never go to a Japanese-run supermarket. In 2012, protesters destroyed Japanese retail outlets in Changsha in anti-Japan rallies triggered by Tokyo's purchase of some disputed islands in the East China Sea from a private owner, putting them under state control.
Similar news
