Tensions Highlight Lack of Japan Lawmakers with China Connections

Newsfrom Japan

Politics

Nov 19, 2025 21:15 (JST)

Tokyo, Nov. 19 (Jiji Press)–The recent flare-up of tensions between Tokyo and Beijing reflecting remarks over Taiwan by Japan’s new leader has highlighted the lack of Japanese government officials and ruling party lawmakers with deep connections with China.

Komeito, which claims to have served as a bridge between the two nations, has left the coalition with Japan’s ruling Liberal Democratic Party.

In addition, influential politicians, including former LDP Secretary-General Toshihiro Nikai, who long led lawmakers’ efforts on the diplomatic front, have retired, and the Japanese political world now lacks successor lawmakers to promote Japan-China ties as a result.

“It’s important to have multilayered communication (with China) through efforts by both the public and private sectors, especially because there are pending issues and gaps in opinion,” Japanese Foreign Minister Toshimitsu Motegi told a press conference Tuesday.

Xue Jian, China’s consul-general in the western Japan city of Osaka, suggested in a social media post that Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi, who took office last month, should be beheaded, after she said in a parliamentary meeting Nov. 7 that a Taiwan contingency could create a critical situation for Japan’s existence that allows the country to exercise its collective self-defense right. China’s government has urged the country’s citizens not to visit Japan.

[Copyright The Jiji Press, Ltd.]

Jiji Press