Japan calls China’s travel warning unacceptable
CHINA’S recent warning to travellers to avoid Japan and for students already there to exercise caution is unacceptable, a Japanese government spokesperson said after Beijing ratcheted up its response to Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi’s comments related to Taiwan.
“These announcements that hinder bilateral exchanges diverge from the broader direction agreed by our respective leaders to build constructive and stable ties in line with a strategic and mutually beneficial relationship,” Japan’s Chief Cabinet Secretary Minoru Kihara said on Monday. “It is not something we can accept.”
Kihara’s comments came after Japan dispatched a senior diplomat to China in an attempt to soothe ties, according to public broadcaster NHK. Kihara did not give details of the visit but said there was communication on various levels and Japan would take action as necessary.
Over the weekend, China issued an advisory against travel to Japan and a safety warning to students who live there.
Tensions between the neighbours have risen since Takaichi said this month that military force used in any Taiwan conflict could be considered a “survival-threatening situation,” a classification that would provide a legal justification for Japan to support friendly countries that choose to respond.
Beijing has accused Takaichi of meddling in its internal affairs and demanded a retraction of the comment, but Tokyo has said its stance is unchanged from previous administrations.
China’s travel advisory could slice as much as 1.8 trillion yen off Japan’s economy, or 0.3 percentage point of gross domestic product, according to an estimate by Takahide Kiuchi, an executive economist at Nomura Research Institute.
The impact would create a further drag on the Japanese economy, which saw its first contraction in six quarters during the summer.
As of September, roughly 7.5 million travellers had arrived in Japan from China this year, according to the Japan National Tourism Organization.
A separate report from Japan Tourism Agency showed each Chinese visitor spent about 240,000 yen on average during their stays in the three months through September.
Kiuchi said his estimate draws on similar cases in the past. In 2012, when China urged its citizens to avoid visiting Japan after a territorial spat escalated, the number of Chinese visitors fell by about 25 per cent from the previous year.
In another sign of tension, four armed Chinese Coast Guard vessels sailed through disputed waters controlled by Japan on Sunday before leaving the area.
Both countries lay claim to the cluster of uninhabited islands in the East China Sea called the Senkaku by Japan and the Diaoyu by China. The islands are administered by Japan. Chinese vessels are often spotted in or near the disputed waters.
China’s Coast Guard said in a statement that it carried out a “rights enforcement patrol” through the waters and that it was a lawful operation.
“These activities by the Chinese Coast Guard violate international law,” Kihara said on Monday. “It is very disappointing and is not acceptable,” he said, adding that Japan would continue to monitor the area around the Senkaku Islands with caution.
Separately, an announcement of public sentiment among both Chinese and Japanese people was postponed at the request of the Chinese organisers, according to Japan’s Genron NPO. The Japanese think tank releases regular public sentiment surveys in cooperation with China International Communications Group, a Chinese publishing group.
Last year’s poll showed that about 90 per cent of both Japanese and Chinese respondents did not think well of the other country. BLOOMBERG
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