Tourists from China walk on a street in the Ginza shopping district in Tokyo on November 22, 2025. Japan has rebutted announcements by the Chinese government that its people should refrain from visiting Japan on the grounds that there has been a surge in crime against Chinese nationals in the country. - AFP
TOKYO: Japan’s Foreign Ministry has issued a press release on its website, rebutting announcements by the Chinese government that its people should refrain from visiting Japan on the grounds that there has been a surge in crime against Chinese nationals in the country.
“Such (an) assertion is incorrect,” the ministry said in its announcement on the night of Nov 21, citing trends in the number of recognised crimes against Chinese nationals in Japan.
It is rare for the ministry to release crime statistics, which it has done in an apparent effort to counter China’s propaganda campaign.
Based on National Police Agency figures, the ministry said the number of Chinese nationals murdered stood at 15 in both 2023 and 2024.
The figure for the period from January to October in 2025 stood at seven, half the 14 cases recorded in the same period in 2024.
Regarding cases of robbery against Chinese nationals, there were 31 in 2023 and 27 in 2024. From January to October in 2025, there were 21, only slightly higher than in the same period in 2024.
As for relevant cases of arson, there were two in 2023 and three in 2024, but there have been no recognised cases in 2025, as at the end of October.
The data “also includes cases where the nationality of the main suspect was found to be Chinese”, the Foreign Ministry said in its post.
It posted the announcement and the statistics on its website in both Japanese and English. The Japanese Embassy in Beijing also posted the announcement.
Beijing’s announcements urging its people to refrain from visiting Japan, or to reconsider studying in Japan, have been made in response to a remark by Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi at a Diet session that a Taiwan contingency could constitute a “survival-threatening” situation for Japan. - The Japan News/ANN
