PM Takaichi says Japan ‘always open’ to dialogue with China amid spat

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Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi had angered Beijing by suggesting Japan could intervene militarily if China attacks Taiwan.

PHOTO: BLOOMBERG

TOKYO – Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi said on Dec 17 she is “always open” to dialogue with China despite

a diplomatic row

“China is an important neighbour for Japan, and we need to build constructive and stable relationships,” Ms Takaichi said at a news conference.

“Japan is always open to dialogue with China. We’re not shutting our door,” she said.

China and Japan are enmeshed in a spat over Ms Takaichi’s suggestion in November that Tokyo could intervene militarily in any attack on Taiwan.

China claims the self-ruled democratic island as part of its territory and has threatened to use force to bring it under its control.

The comments triggered a sharp diplomatic backlash from Beijing, which has urged its citizens to

avoid travelling to Japan

Official data released on Dec 17 showed the warning has had an impact on visitor numbers.

Arrivals from mainland China to Japan in November edged up just 3 per cent from a year earlier, the weakest growth since January 2022, according to the Japan National Tourism Organisation (JNTO).

Around 560,000 travellers from China visited Japan in November, representing a 3 per cent year-on-year increase, the JNTO said, citing the travel warning as a factor in the modest hike.

The year-on-year growth of Chinese visitors to Japan steadily hovered in the double digits for months – 22.8 per cent in October, 18.9