BEIJING: Japan raised objections Saturday after China advised its citizens to avoid visiting Japan, as a feud over the new Japanese leader’s remarks on Taiwan showed no signs of dying down.
The government in Tokyo lodged a protest and its top spokesperson, Chief Cabinet Secretary Minoru Kihara, urged China to take “appropriate measures,” Japan’s Kyodo News Service reported.
China advised its citizens Friday to refrain from traveling to Japan in the near future. It cited earlier attacks against Chinese in Japan and what it called Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi ‘s “erroneous remarks” on Taiwan, which it said undermined the atmosphere for China-Japan exchange.
Kihara told reporters that it is precisely because of the differences between the two governments that multilayered communication is essential, a Kyodo report said.
China has repeatedly recommended its nationals take security precautions when in Japan over the past year, but the latest announcement appeared to be stronger in advising against travel, according to notices posted on the website of its embassy in Tokyo.
Japan is an immensely popular destination for Chinese tourists, providing a much-needed economic boost but also sparking an anti-China and anti-foreigner backlash from some. It’s unclear what impact the advisory will have on the willingness of Chinese to visit Japan, but several Chinese airlines offered no-penalty refunds on previously sold tickets to Japan following the government’s announcement.
The dispute suggests that Japan’s already fragile relations with China could turn rocky under Takaichi, who supports building up the military to counter potential threats from Beijing and its claims to contested territory in nearby waters in the western Pacific.
Takaichi, who became prime minister last month, said in parliament that a Chinese attack on Taiwan could constitute “an existential threat” to Japan, requiring the use of force by its military.
The remark prompted strong objections from China, including a social media post from its consul general in Osaka last weekend saying “we have no choice but to cut off that dirty neck that has been lunged at us.”
His comment, which was later taken down, sparked a Japanese diplomatic protest that was followed by a back-and-forth that continued all week.
China claims Taiwan, a self-governing island off its coast, as its territory and has staged threatening military drills in the surrounding waters in recent years.
Neither the United States nor Japan has official diplomatic relations with Taiwan, but the US is the main supplier of defense equipment to the island’s military and opposes resolution of the China-Taiwan situation by force.
Japan is a military ally of the United States and hosts American troops at several US bases on its territory, including a major Navy base south of Tokyo.
Japan protests China’s travel advisory over Taiwan remarks
https://arab.news/ns76h
Japan protests China’s travel advisory over Taiwan remarks
- Chief Cabinet Secretary Minoru Kihara urged China to take “appropriate measures”
- China advised its citizens Friday to refrain from traveling to Japan in the near future
Starmer arrives in China to defend ‘pragmatic’ partnership
- British Prime Minister Keir Starmer arrived in Beijing on Wednesday to meet with Chinese leader Xi Jinping, hoping to restore long fraught relations
BEIJING: British Prime Minister Keir Starmer arrived in Beijing on Wednesday to meet with Chinese leader Xi Jinping, hoping to restore long fraught relations.
It is the first visit to China by a UK prime minister since 2018 and follows a string of Western leaders courting Beijing in recent weeks, pivoting from a mercurial United States.
Starmer, who is also expected to visit Shanghai on Friday, will later make a brief stop in Japan to meet with Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi.
For Xi, the trip is an opportunity to show Beijing can be a reliable partner at a time when President Donald Trump’s policies have rattled historic ties between Washington and its Western allies.
Starmer is battling record low popularity polls and hopes the visit can boost Britain’s beleaguered economy.
The trip has been lauded by Downing Street as a chance to boost trade and investment ties while raising thorny issues such as national security and human rights.
Starmer will meet with Xi for lunch on Thursday, followed by a meeting with Premier Li Qiang.
The British leader said on Wednesday this visit to China was “going to be a really important trip for us,” vowing to make “some real progress.”
There are “opportunities” to deepen bilateral relations, Starmer told reporters traveling with him on the plane to China.
“It doesn’t make sense to stick our head in the ground and bury in the sand when it comes to China, it’s in our interests to engage and not compromise on national security,” he added.
China, for its part, “is willing to take this visit as an opportunity to enhance political mutual trust,” foreign ministry spokesman Guo Jiakun reiterated Wednesday during a news briefing.
Starmer is the latest Western leader to be hosted by Beijing in recent months, following visits by Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney and French President Emmanuel Macron.
Faced with Trump’s threats to impose tariffs on Canada for signing a trade agreement with China, and the US president’s attempts to create a new international institution with his “Board of Peace,” Beijing has been affirming its support for the United Nations to visiting leaders.
Reset ties
UK-China relations plummeted in 2020 after Beijing imposed a sweeping national security law on Hong Kong, which severely curtailed freedoms in the former British colony.
They soured further since with both powers exchanging accusations of spying.
Starmer, however, was quick to deny fresh claims of Chinese spying after the Telegraph newspaper reported Monday that China had hacked the mobile phones of senior officials in Downing Street for several years.
“There’s no evidence of that. We’ve got robust schemes, security measures in place as you’d expect,” he told reporters on Wednesday.
Since taking the helm in 2024, Starmer has been at pains to reset ties with the world’s second-largest economy and Britain’s third-biggest trade partner.
In China, he will be accompanied by around 60 business leaders from the finance, pharmaceutical, automobile and other sectors, and cultural representatives as he tries to balance attracting vital investment and appearing firm on national security concerns.
The Labour leader also spoke to Xi on the sidelines of the G20 summit in Brazil in November 2024.
Jimmy Lai
The prime minister is also expected to raise the case of Hong Kong media mogul and democracy supporter Jimmy Lai, 78, a British national facing years in prison after being found guilty of collusion charges in December.
When asked by reporters about his plans to discuss Lai’s case, Starmer avoided specifics, but said engaging with Beijing was to ensure that “issues where we disagree can be discussed.”
“You know my practice, which is to raise issues that need to be raised,” added Starmer, who has been accused by the Conservative opposition of being too soft in his approach to Beijing.
Reporters Without Borders urged Starmer in a letter to secure Lai’s release during his visit.
The British government has also faced fierce domestic opposition after it approved this month contentious plans for a new Chinese mega-embassy in London, which critics say could be used to spy on and harass dissidents.
At the end of last year, Starmer acknowledged that China posed a “national security threat” to the UK, drawing flak from Chinese officials.
The countries also disagree on key issues including China’s close ties with Russian President Vladimir Putin amid the war in Ukraine, and accusations of human rights abuses in China.
